One Night Stand?
by Fallen Pens
Summary: Things escalate for Lincoln, when his efforts to cheer up Luna result in a lot more of a physical encounter, as well as a confession. The two seem to be able to go back to their normal lives, but what happens if you have to take an important responsibility along the way? How will this one night affect their lives?
1. Cheering Up?

**Authors Note: Hey, I'm going to just throw this out there that this is my first story. I've been a browser for a while of this site, but took reading some of the Loud house fanfiction to tag in an write for it. Thanks The Loud Author for that inspiration. I'm not gonna lie I have barely written in my entire life, and I don't know if I should continue this or not...I'll leave that up to you guys.**

 _"What kind of monster am I…?"_

The rain pattered against the window with the winds howl, outside the nearly empty home. Lincoln Loud could only keep thrusting his hips, feeling his lover's arms wrapped around him.

"Lincoln, please don't stop! This is the best I've ever felt in my entire life!" she cried. The fifteen year old boy barely focused. He was lost in the many piling thoughts in his head, with overwhelming guilt and lust deluding them immensely.

"Luna… I'm close…" he panted while holding onto her sides. His lover could feel some of his warm juices already. There was no care though. She wanted to enjoy this moment forever. His rapid heartbeat felt more like a drum with each beat increasing in intensity, yet somehow clouding his mind at the same pace. His older sibling paid little attention to his warning.

"It's so hot… I-I want it, Lincoln! Don't hold back!" Luna assured. Lincoln just closed his eyes. The sounds of their cries of pleasure were quite as loud as their surnames indicated. The young boy looked directly into her eyes. The rock lover wrapped her arms around him and locked lips with him. During the passionate deep kiss, her younger brother could only close his eyes. He felt horrible for doing this at all, but he was not able to resist at this point. His body had taken full control of itself and did not listen to his mind's protests.

"Haah… I'm sorry, but I'm drained," Lincoln gasped for breath. The sex they had for the last hour and a half had taken away every force from his body. "Luna, I-I'm sorry for doing… any of that. It's wrong and-… Luna?"

Luna was sleeping soundly with a content smile across her face. The middle Loud child went quiet before he reached down, pulling the blanket over her.

"I was supposed to cheer her up… Why did I do any of this?" Lincoln asked himself silently. He and Luna were the only people in the house. He was supposed to be with the rest of their family to go to the newfound giant circus act taking place in the largest Royal Woods mall. Luna had no intention to go with them, but when Lincoln realized something was wrong, he stayed behind to make sure everything was okay. Unfortunately, his hunch of something being wrong turned out to be correct.

"I'm sorry, Luna… I'll… We'll talk about it when you wake up," Lincoln said to his slumbering older sister. His mind was wrecked, unable to think straight. Once he got dressed back up in his orange pajamas and picked up Luna's clothes for her, he left the room, closing the door behind him gently.

"Oh hey, Charles," Lincoln greeted one of their many pets, his loyal dog, who sat in front of the door like he had been worried for his owners. The dog could tell his master was unnerved. Very unnerved.

"I messed up really bad, Charles," the bucktoothed boy spoke to his pet as the two made their way downstairs. A lot of the Loud family talked to their pets like they could understand them. It brought them a lot of comfort like a sense of therapy. They had been doing it for years, though what was odd for most was normal for the Louds. What the two siblings had just done however was far from weird. Both of them were more than aware of it as well.

"I was supposed to cheer her up. I wasn't supposed to do… that. I just don't know what happened. She was crying, so I played on her guitar for her, and then… and then…" Lincoln looked ready to have an anxiety attack. He sat down in the kitchen, Charles beginning to chew on his itchy paw.

"All I did was talk, and when that didn't work, I tried to sing that song she made for me on my birthday a few years ago… She always loved to sing it any excuse she could get," he leaned back in the chair, holding his head as he tried to recall everything himself. Luna had been so torn apart, because for the last year, she had been working exhaustingly for the biggest chance she had to get her foot into the music industry's door. Only for it all to blow up in her face and to fall apart in a matter of hours.

"I know everyone messes up Charles. But somehow in less than twelve hours, I did so much wrong," Lincoln rested his head on his arms upon the table, looking out the window above the sink into the rainy night, "I cheated on my girlfriend with my sister… I took advantage of Luna… I feel like… I'm just a pig…!"

The teenager's little heart was exploding with guilt. He felt like he had practically attacked someone while they were in their weakest mental state. Even if Lincoln had not purposely tried to manipulate Luna, it did not change how he viewed himself. He felt no longer like a brother. He felt like nothing much more than a monster. He wished he could talk to his best friend, Clyde, right now. But this was a situation where even the McBride's advice would prove futile like anything currently.

"I don't know what to do, Charles," the middle Loud child exhaled, looking over to see Charles at his dog bowl, eating his late dinner. He took that as good enough an answer as to what to do.

"Yeah… Guess all I can do is eat, keep quiet, and wait until Luna is awake to talk about it," Lincoln got up from the table and went over to the refrigerator to try and prepare a personal dinner, or at least one that could he stomach. Anything to distract himself was welcomed.

* * *

Lincoln was sprawled out on the couch. He was half asleep, after he had spent another hour waiting for Luna. He had his eyes closed, trying to at least get some sleep. His mind however was far too bothered to permit him rest. His body was too tired to get up and pace around constantly like it desired either.

"Wuh? Luna?" Lincoln groggily sat up as he heard the sound of the shower being turned on. He got off the couch and made his way straight upstairs. The door to Luna's and Luan's room was open for him. He made his way down the hall toward the bathroom, he hesitantly knocked on the door lightly. After a few seconds, the door opened.

"Hey dude. How goes it?" Luna greeted Lincoln, she looked quite enthusiastic, his eyes widening upon seeing her.

"I… I, uh… ca-can you, y'know, put your clothes on?" he requested, turning his back to her to try and not lay one eye at her bare body, but it was hard not to stare at those bountiful spheres that he had been groping only a couple of hours ago.

"I was about to jump in the shower… You wanna join?" Luna offered. The middle Loud felt her arms wrap around him from behind, bringing him into a hug. He gulped, feeling her breasts pressed against his back. His heartbeat felt explosive with how high of a pace it was beating.

"I… Luna, everyone's going to be home soon. W-we need to talk, please…" Lincoln may not be able to see the time, but he knew they probably had maybe forty minutes at most, if they were lucky. Regret for what they had done still loomed in his heart, and he could not condone himself to do similar in the bathroom, even if his body desired otherwise.

"Alright, little bro. Gimme a minute," Luna picked up on his discomfort in a millisecond, backing off upon the realization.

"Thank you," Lincoln exhaled in relief, wiping the sweat off his forehead. His heart may be calming, but other parts of him were going to take a bit more time.

* * *

After a short wait, the two stood in Lincoln's room. It was not the biggest, but it was more than enough for him, ever since he was young.

"So I guess you want to talk about what we did?" Luna took the closest shot in the dark she could fathom. Her younger brother nodded. Things were immensely awkward, considering she had a giant hand in raising him. Lincoln loved Luna with his whole heart, but he never meant it in that way.

"Yeah I'll… I'll start off with this," he cleared his throat, trying to not cower out from this important conversation, "I'm sorry for what I did to you, Luna. I feel so bad for doing that, and I understand if you're… if you're upset with me."

"Did to me? What are you talking about bro?" Luna responded with a quirked eyebrow, laid back on his bed in a long purple shirt that had an image of guitars crossing handles on the front of it.

"I went overboard with all of that… You know the, uhh… sex," Lincoln forced the word out of his mouth, feeling uncomfortable over talking about it. Despite what his classes had taught him, it never made it easier to not become sheepish at the mere discussion, or mention of the word.

"Sheesh, Lincoln. You're making it out to be like you raped me," Luna claimed. She held her head, rubbing some of her messed up hair out of her eyes, surprised at how guilty he felt for that one act. The older Loud sister was not wrong with that guess to how he felt either.

"I mean… yeah… I feel like that's exactly what I did. You were crying and talking about how your career was ruined. I wanted to cheer you up, but I didn't mean to do any of that to you… I lost control, like some badly programmed robot," Lincoln exclaimed. That look in his eyes showed nothing but regret. His older sister felt bad for unintentionally messing with his head so much.

"Not really ruined, but I'll have to work a lot harder from the ground up again, practically. That alone was getting under me a lot… But you always try your hardest to make me happy no matter what," Luna reached up and pulled him into a hug, surprising him. "And seeing you there for me in my worst times made me feel just… Like everything would be fine. I feel more confident with you, Lincoln."

Lincoln looked up to her nervously, unsure how to respond to that. He was comforted to know he could be of help.

"So that's why I started doing all that to YOU. To show you how thankful I am for you, Lincoln. I don't know if I'll ever be able to repay you for all you do for me, though… I love you a lot, my little dude," Luna was not joking. Indeed did she put the blame on herself and not pass it off as a blind, emotional overload. She regretted making the younger sibling miss the circus act with the rest of their family, imagining he would be a lot happier currently if he was with the other family members.

"Luna, I love you too, but I have a girlfriend," Lincoln informed her. For a few years he had dated his school bully, Ronnie Anne, whom ironically his siblings helped him forge that relationship. Yet he kept it secret from all of them so they would not meddle with them.

"Oh…" Luna was a little upset at the news. Even if the siblings did lose their virginity to each other, the rocker did not have a clue that there was a special someone in his life. She had no clue how close the two were, but that didn't make anything better. "I'm sorry, Lincoln…"

"Don't worry about it Luna," Lincoln broke out of the hug, "I mean… Yeah, I love you too, but if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know, alright?"

"Nah… don't get wound up over it… Come on, I could use some help retuning my guitar," the aspiring rock star offered while getting up.

"Sure. I'd love to, Luna," Lincoln agreed. He guessed this was going to be a secret between them. He was glad Luna was not too upset. As the two left his room, he was ready to move on from things. But if she wanted to talk about it, he was more than all ears. Yet one thing was bothering Lincoln, in the back of his mind a weird thought was pestering him constantly but he could not put his finger on why though.

 _"I feel like I forgot something, though…Oh well, it's probably nothing important."_


	2. The First Month

**Authors note: Well, I'm exhilarated at how much people like this, considering I've never written before I figured this would just fade off into obscurity, I don't know how long this fic will be but I know it'll be under 20 chapters. Let me know what you think. And the reason this fic is not rated M, is mainly because the website buries M rated fics in archives, with the filters set to only show K to T rated stuff by default. I was essentially forced to keep it T rated, or else a majority of you would not have even seen this story. Sorry if my decision is disliked. This is Fallen pens, dropping out.**

"Sheesh. Where's Ronnie Anne, man? We've been waiting here for two hours now," Clyde asked, cleaning his glasses while waiting.

"She said she had something to wrap up first, sorry, you can go on ahead if you want. We can catch up," Lincoln apologized. The two best friends were at a bus stop beside a calm and rather big park, one that existed longer than they had.

"Nah. I'd rather have someone good to play with," Clyde jokingly said. They had made plans for the three of them to head to the arcade first before spending the day doing various other tasks. Yet Ronnie Anne was nowhere to be seen.

"Really funny, but I'm great at those VR games," the snow haired boy's mind and heart were doing a lot better after a month and a half had passed. Neither he nor Luna had told anyone of their sexual experience. However, the middle Loud had debated telling his best friend about it, he ultimately decided against it since they were moving past the incident.

"How've things been at home?" Clyde decided to change the topic to continue passing the time, as he put his glasses back on his face. Lincoln laughed lightly before he answered. Things had been about as crazy as they usually were at the Loud house, but somehow calmer at the same time.

"Lisa accidentally made Lynn's body rubber… She hated it at first, but warmed up fast. It was kind of funny to see Lynn be sad about being normal again," Lincoln started. Those two sisters were not the closest. Yet somehow one lab accident did cause the two to bond a little more. However it did not stop their parents from getting upset over the laboratory accident, which resulted in Lisa getting grounded. Not that it changed much since she spent most of her time indoors anyway.

"What?!" Clyde gawked, "Dude you should've taken pictures or recorded it. That'd be worth watching! Or putting online." He replied, imagining that Lynn probably tried to do a lot of crazy stunts with her rubber body.

"Well, Luan probably got some of it on camera, or Lisa got it on one of her hidden cams," Lincoln shrugged, not wanting to go poking through Lisa's security equipment for a tiny piece of footage.

"So, um… How's Lori?" Clyde asked. His past crush, Lori, had given him one of the harshest scoldings that Lincoln had ever seen, because he had got in the way of her relationship with Bobby, and interrupted one day too many. But in the end, it turned out for the better. It had shaken his dear friend down to reality, but the remnants of his shattered heart needed another few months to be repaired completely.

"Lori's doing good. I think she's been too tired from trying to get settled at her new job. Leni has had to help her with all of her sore muscles when she comes home," Lincoln stated. Lori had recently gotten a job as an assistant to a rather important judge in royal woods. It paid well, but also forced her to be on her feet very often and work on writing. Things would get better with time, the oldest Loud reassured, but it did not stop her family from being concerned about how she was exhausted all the time.

"Honestly, everyone's been doing great. Not a single fight happened between Lola and Lana this week, that alone is a miracle... I guess the only thing I could complain about is Luna," the only Loud boy sighed, leaning back while putting his arms behind his head.

"Luna's causing trouble for you? That's weird… usually she likes you so much that she gives you a hug whenever she sees you," Clyde commented. Every time he had come over to his friend's house, Luna would indeed give Lincoln a surprise hug or two, but that was more of a welcome home type of deal. Nothing more, nothing less.

"Not so much trouble… but she goes through a bag of apples every couple of days… It kind of upsets Lily because those are her favorite," Lincoln explained. Little Lily Loud was not exactly the easiest to upset, but it was disheartening whenever she ran out of her favorite food. Thankfully Luna was able to control herself well enough to save the toddler some, but she surely had a lot of trouble resisting her rather random craving.

"Nobody thinks much about it since the… y'know, fallout with that record company," the Loud boy continued. He presumed that Luna was stress-eating, but saw no reason to complain, since it at least was a healthy food. However, everyone had inevitably found out the news behind the hard work gone to waste. The entire Loud family expressed their sympathies then and promised to help in any way they could, sadly there was not much they could do for the aspiring rock star.

"Huh… that is weird… Just try and get her some apple juice instead. That might help," Clyde suggested. His best friend scratched his chin.

"That's actually pretty smart, Clyde. Thanks! I'll grab some for her when I go home," Lincoln smiled, thinking it would be a great idea to surprise Luna with something that she could drink for the apple craving, so she would not have to worry about upsetting Lily.

"Sorry for being late, Lame-o," they heard the sound of wheels against concrete rolling at a high speed. They both recognized the girl riding the skateboard, seeing her come to a screeching halt in front of them. The all too familiar Santiago girl greeted them, standing out with her black ponytail and purple hooded jacket.

"Hey, Ronnie Anne! What took you?" Lincoln greeted her with a hug. She was the very girlfriend he had been dating, a secret that only Clyde knew. Luna knew he had a girlfriend, but he had not specified who. She put the skateboard on her back, before the three began to make their way down the street to head for the arcade.

"Bobby needed help. He nearly busted his leg yesterday and got put on medical leave," Ronnie Anne explained. Her older brother Bobby, who had more jobs than most people could even imagine tolerating, was unable to perform at any of them until he recovered. Due to one slip and a heavy crate landing on his leg, a bad case of being distracted as far as she cared.

"I can't see you in the 'caring for him' type of role," Clyde commented. Bobby had practically been the father for his little sister since the Santiago parents were always busy with their own work. The Santiago girl began resenting her only brother when he started doing similar like their parents.

"More like trying to get him to relax. I swear, he can't sit still for five minutes unless Lori tells him to," Ronnie Anne huffed. Trying to make Bobby take it easy was one of the hardest things for her to do. Lincoln knew how she felt. It was hard to get some of his own siblings to relax when they needed to.

"Well, you can call me if you ever need help," Lincoln told his girlfriend. After his incident with Luna, he had been unable to even look Ronnie Anne in the eye for two weeks straight. Thankfully, he overcame his guilt with her not noticing, since he claimed to have just been overwhelmed with various tasks. Lincoln was rather bad at lying, but making plans on the fly was a great personal specialty.

"Thanks, Lincoln… Come on. I've been itching to play you in Brawl Bots," Ronnie Anne grinned. Lincoln groaned, wishing he had not bragged about being good at virtual reality games. It was like his girlfriend could read his mind. That or she knew him that well. What did he expect from a school bully he had been secretly dating for three years?

 _"This is gonna be a long day. I can feel it…"_

* * *

"Jeez, what's up with me today?" Luna held her head as she entered into her shared room, fixing her purple black-skull shirt. She had barely spent ten minutes in the shower, yet for some reason, by the time she finished and got out, she felt like she had lost all her energy, feeling the same way she would after a marathon jam session. She plopped onto her bed, tiredly.

"I dunno what's up. The ceiling?" Luan could not resist. Being an aspiring comedian, she made it her own personal job to try and make everyone she could in the family happy, to varying results, but that did not stop her from trying pranks, props, bad puns, and more importantly, jokes to do said cheering up.

"I walked into that one…" the guitar loving Loud rolled her eyes. She shared a room with the comedian and got along well with her, but sometimes the jokes became too unbearable.

"Oh… anything I can do for you Luna?" Luan offered her sister, adjusting her own plaid patterned dress and white sleeveless shirt, while looking at her bucktoothed braced face in the mirror, trying to ready herself for a comedy gig she had booked tonight at one of her favorite comedy clubs. Luan picked up on her sibling's slumped mood pretty quickly, it would be hard to go out to get on stage knowing one of her family would not be happy.

"No thanks, I just need to be off my feet for a little while… Don't worry about me. Focus on your routine tonight," Luna reassured. Maybe she needed to start getting more exercise, if just standing was causing her to feel more drained than she should.

"Well… Alright, but I'm going to go ask Leni if she'll give you a massage," Luan persisted her desire to help in some form. The best idea in mind was to get help from their second oldest sister.

"Thanks, Luan," Luna was glad to have such a considerate family. She would have gone straight to their parents about this random problem if they weren't at work. When Luan left the room, Luna sighed before laying back on her bed.

"What is up with me? One day, I felt like the most energetic person in the world. Then the next day, I feel like I partied for a week straight," Luna rubbed her head sorely, resting it on her pillow. This had been going on for the last two weeks. On top of that, her mood was not in much better of a position either. Half the time it spiraled out of control, but thankfully when that did happen she was able to get a hold of herself relatively fast.

"Wow… you sound like Lori when she first started her job," Leni's voice caught her attention. She stood in the doorway, wearing her usual baby blue dress with her favorite sunglasses dangling from the front pocket.

"You're right about that…" Luna couldn't disagree. She expected to one day just hear her oldest sister announcing that she was fed up and quitting that job. The good paycheck was the only thing stopping her from doing so.

"Well, don't worry! I'm going to make you feel great again!" Leni declared. Her younger sibling lightly chuckled. She was thankful, but considering Leni had IQ lower than Lily's, it was hard to tell if the cheerful mindset came from blissful obliviousness, or personal preference.

"Thanks, Leni. I owe you one. So if you ever need a model, don't wait to ask," Luna shifted around so she would be lying on her stomach. Leni was a fashion designer at heart, though often used Lincoln whenever she needed a model, mainly because he was usually the perfect height for most dresses or ideas she had in mind.

"Thanks Luna. I'm just glad to see you happy though," the fashion loving girl reassured, beginning to start the light massage. The rock loving Loud felt a little better already, trying to stay relaxed and clear her head. She still was not over what transpired with the record company, but holding a grudge would get her nowhere. All Luna could do was take it as one of life's harsher lessons and not even remotely get near that company's C.E.O ever again, even if her life depended on it.

"Are there any apples left downstairs? I think I could use one right now," Luna asked, feeling hungry for an early lunch.

"You ate all but three last night, Luna! I know an apple a day keeps the doctor away… But I think too many in one day makes the doctor come back," Leni answered. Those last few apples were Lily's the rock lover had decided, but that did not stop the reply from disappointing her.

"Do you mind telling me what happened that made the record deal go bad? You've only told everyone that it was just bad luck, but… I don't know if I believe it," she then requested, beginning to rub her younger sister's shoulders. Luna was obviously hiding the real reason why things went bad, but nobody pressed matters due to how upset she had been at the time.

"…Well, I guess I can. Since I told Lincoln already, so I may as well tell you," Luna got up from the bed, interrupting the massage. She went to her dresser and began rummaging through it. She pulled out a CD case, and inside it was a clear white disc with the title **'Memory Skip'** on the front.

"A DVD?" Leni scratched her head, viewing it.

"Heh… no, Leni. It's my first album. I spent the last year working my ass off to get better equipment, and to improve my guitar so it would be able to take even harder solos. It took me two months after that to just get a dang meeting with that head of the company," Luna went over to her music player. She normally slept with her headphones on and blaring rock music into her own ears, since noise helped her sleep easier.

"Ohh, I remember now. I crushed my foot when helping you carry one of those amplifiers," Leni felt like her memory was more refreshed now. Her younger sibling had spent that last year exclaiming that her chance had arrived. Everyone was more than happy for her of course. Sadly things did not always go as planned or hoped.

"Yeaaaah… Sorry about that. Here, give it a listen. It won't make as much sense if you don't hear at least one song for yourself," Luna insisted, handing over the CD player and headphones. Leni put the headphones on her head and hit the play button. The sound of a guitars strong strumming began to ring out in her eardrums.

 ** _"I find myself sitting alone out in the twilight_**

 ** _Like a ship without a sail in the night!_**

 ** _When all I can do is look to the stars for that hope to get far,_**

 ** _The darkness became less bleak_**

 ** _As the bright white sun made a break!_**

 ** _The new day better than the last finally made way for me!"_**

"Wow Luna! This is great!" Leni exclaimed. Luna's melodious voice sounded so energetic and passionate. "So what happened? They should've loved it."

Her younger sister hit the stop button on the music player.

"Well, that's what I made, and… well, this is what they did after," Luna presented another CD case that was black, with a giant red exclamation mark on it. Leni loaded it into the music player and hit play.

"Wuh? …Luna, I think my ears are broken!" the blonde girl could not really hear the guitar rift, or even the beat. It sounded like it was muffled and the lyrics were not even fully understandable. Her younger sister hit the stop button once again, and took the headphones off of her older siblings head.

"No, your ears aren't broken. That's my song after they 'modernized it' for the younger kids."

"They made it sound like it was made under the ocean?" Leni's eyebrow quirked, not sure what kids would enjoy that type of music.

"Yup… They kicked me out when I didn't agree with it... Buuuuut, it probably didn't help that I dumped the guy's liquor on his head afterwards," just recalling the event like it was fresh in her mind made Luna tear up. Her, an inspired rock musician, standing outside of the company office with nothing but the two CDs and her shattered hopes. The only thing she believed that had saved her from doing anything stupid and irreversible that night, was Lincoln.

"Oh… I'm so sorry Luna," Leni pulled her younger sister into a hug. Luna wrapped her arms around her older sibling, choking out a sob. She was glad to get what happened off her chest, even to a sister who could not fully understand. She would one day tell everyone else, when she felt up to it.

"There, there… just let it all out…" the fashion designer comforted her younger sister, "One day, you're going to make them regret doing any of that to you, they'll realize that when you become famous."

"Thanks, Leni… For everything," Luna sniffled. Both of them were surprised by how emotional she was over this.

"You know, it's funny," Leni said as their embrace ended.

"What is?" the rock lover wiped her eyes. Her sister smiled, handing the music player back to its rightful owner.

"I meant how you've been lately. You've been craving apples, getting more emotional randomly, and becoming more tired… You're acting a lot like mom when she was pregnant with Lucy," Leni explained from the best of her memories recollection, while thinking back to when their mother was pregnant with their goth sibling. Having given birth to eleven children, their mother had gone through a lot of those symptoms while pregnant. As well as several different cravings for certain foods. Lily was sworn to be the last child for the Loud family, but they did not really believe that too well. Assuming it was a matter of time before their parents announced a new family member being on the way.

"Hahaha! Oh, that's rich, Leni. I'm surprised Luan didn't make that joke first," Luna began laughing, unable to control it. She went over to put the music player and CDs back where they belonged.

"I know it's silly, but I think it's cute to imagine you with a baby. You were the best when everyone was born, you'd be the perfect mommy!" Leni continued, thinking this would brighten the mood further at least.

"Well don't worry about that, I haven't gotten any plans in mind for kids of my own for a long while. Besides, I haven't had sex in a-…" Luna went silent, her music player and CDs slipping out of her hand and clattering onto the floor. "Oh god…"

"Luna? Are you okay?"

"L-Leni, I need a favor... where does Lori keep those pregnancy tests?" Luna meekly requested. She knew Lori had some stashed away, since she had been dating Bobby for a few years now.

"They're in her nightstand. But why Luna? You're scaring me," Leni claimed nervously.

"Please go get three of them for me, Leni… Please!" the rock lover begged. Leni nodded and went off to her and Lori's room to get those pregnancy tests. From there, the pregnancy check commenced.

* * *

"Luna…? Are you going to come out?" Leni spoke from the other side of the bathroom door. Nobody else thankfully needed to use the only bathroom in the house at the moment, but that was not why the second oldest sibling was concerned. Luna had stayed within there for half an hour now.

"Oh. It's unlocked," Leni turned the knob and entered inside the bathroom, cautiously.

"No no no no no…" Luna muttered to herself, sitting on the side of the bathtub, holding her head.

"Luna! What's wrong?!" Leni worriedly asked, while rushing over. She saw the pregnancy tests resting upon the sink edge. All three of them showed the same plus signs, making the results clear as day.

"Oh gosh… You're actually pregnant?" Leni stuttered. Luna was in pieces, tears unable to stop running down her cheeks. She had no idea how something as important as simple protection slipped her mind. Her mind was wracked with worry for another reason, however.

 _"What am I going to tell him…? He's going to hate me forever…"_


	3. Fear

"Jeez, Lincoln. You're being torn apart," Clyde commented. Here they were in the arcade, where his two close friends were in front of him, both wearing gloves, boots and helmets that let them play the virtual reality game. There was a large television screen displaying that very game, depicting rather junkyard quality robots fighting in a huge, urban city environment.

"I can see that, Clyde!" Lincoln retorted while putting up his guard to block an attack from his secret girlfriend. She was ruthless, in every fighting game she participated in. The robot he controlled was losing bolts and scrap metal by the dozen. He tried to return with his strong punch.

Ronnie Anne laughed while letting him hit her robot in the side, causing it to be dented. She then wrapped her arms around his, catching his mechanical limb in her grip and beginning to pull. He had no time to react before his mech's arm was torn off and thrown to the side, sparks and shrapnel falling from it.

"Sorry, Lame-o," his girlfriend's playable character delivered a devastating right hook to his robot's head, sending it spinning rapidly. After a few moments, the machine collapsed. The television wrote on screen that Ronnie Anne was the winner.

"Oh, jeez… I feel sick," Lincoln groaned while taking off his virtual reality gear. Seeing his own head spinning in that perspective was hard on his eyes. Nausea aside, he had fun playing at the arcade since the addition of virtual reality games. Sadly it was maybe one of only three arcades left in the town.

"Wanna go another round?" Ronnie Anne stepped off of the platform they had been required to stand on during the virtual battle. Clyde was trying to make sure his best friend was not going to fall over from dizziness.

"Thanks, Ronnie Anne, but I think seven losses in a row is enough for me," Lincoln turned it down. He swore she enjoyed trying to make him feel sick. These virtual reality games had larger amounts of players, but he had enough trouble keeping up with one person. He hated to imagine trying to play with a dozen other players.

"I'll play a round," Clyde offered.

"Ha!" Ronnie Anne snorted, making the McBride turn to her.

"What's up?"

"No offense Clyde, but I've seen you a few times in a real fight. I can't imagine you taking any chances with a virtual fight," Ronnie Anne replied. She remembered those few times where he had tried standing up to his own bullies, who were far worse than her. He lost every last one of those fights, but somehow that made the bullies stop picking on him. It was perhaps because they wanted to target people who would not put up any form of resistance.

"What? You scared that you're gonna lose?" Clyde grinned. That got her attention like a bullet.

"Alright, that's it. You're on, punk!" Ronnie Anne got right back onto the platform. Clyde gladly stepped onto his, ready to give her a decent fight, if he could at least let his best friend recompose himself.

"Hm?" Lincoln heard his cellphone ringing with a calm upbeat tone. He knew just who was calling.

"Hey, Leni. What's up?" Lincoln answered, taking a seat on a nearby bench where he could watch the robotic brawl begin between the other two. Not even a minute into the skirmish, and mechanical parts were beginning to go flying like broken kites. Clyde understood the mechanics of the game, definitely better than his best friend ever could.

"Umm, Linc, are you busy?" Leni asked. She sounded rather nervous.

"Not exactly… Why? What's wrong?" Lincoln replied with concern in his voice, his attention fading away from the intense game battle.

"I'm not supposed to tell you, but Luna is very, very upset right now, and she wanted me to ask you if you'll come straight home… It's important."

"H-huh...? Alright... tell her I'll be home in a few minutes. Bye Leni," the even more worried Lincoln ended the call and put his cellphone back in his pocket. He turned to his two friends. "Sorry you two! I have to get going!"

"Wait what? Lincoln, what's going on?" Ronnie Anne lifted her virtual headset, but her boyfriend had already vanished. That alone told her something either really bad happened, or something very important came up.

"Whoo! I win!" Clyde cheered. The Santiago girl looked to the television. In half a second, her robot's head had been torn off. She groaned, holding her head.

"Wait where's Lincoln?" he too noticed his friend's disappearance. He suddenly felt Ronnie Anne's helmet bounce off his head with a loud thud, rebounding off his skull. He caught it with his hands before it could fall and sustain real damage. "Ow! What was that for?!"

"For being a cheater!"

* * *

Lincoln did not waste any time exiting the arcade and beginning the long, brisk run back home. He just had to make haste. He was worried a lot more than ever. It was Luna, of all people, and to hear that she was deeply upset concerned him. Lincoln had promised he would do anything for her if there was anything he could do, and he intended to keep that promise.

* * *

"Ohhh… I haven't run that far that fast in… Well, a week," Lincoln was bent over with his hands on his knees, trying to regain his breath. He would be in a lot worse of physical shape if it was not for one of his other sisters keeping a lot of them going with rather forced exercise.

"You should've texted me. Then I'd have picked you up on the way home."

"Huh?" Lincoln straightened back up and looked over to see a parked small blue car, and saw a short blonde haired woman, just as tired as him, step out, clad in a business suit.

"Oh hi, Lori… Sorry, I didn't want to bother you," Lincoln apologized. His oldest sister would always go straight home after work. Lincoln did not want to bother her for simple rides when she was exhausted for the day, and simply wanted to get home to rest.

"You really have to stop doing that," Lori told her only brother as the two approached the front door.

"Stop doing what?" Lincoln asked. The two stood outside on the porch. His oldest sister was mostly short tempered and a phone addict. As the years passed though, she grew and changed enough to hold back during work hours. Bobby had no problem waiting for her to only call or text during breaks anyway, mostly because he had multiple jobs to handle.

"That whole not wanting to bother others thing… You say that to literally everyone, like you're paranoid that if you ask for one small favor that the person you ask will hate you," Lori began while beginning to undo her tie, reaching up and pulling the hair clips out to let her hair free to reach a little past her shoulders in length.

"What? I don't do that," Lincoln retorted, not believing it himself.

"Lincoln, on your birthday last year, Lynn hit you in the head with a baseball and gave you amnesia for the day… So everyone took care of you and helped get you back on your feet and get your brain going again. What was the first thing you said to us all?"

"If I said no, would that get me out of this conversation faster?" Lincoln was too sheepish to respond.

"You said 'I'm sorry for wasting your time'. To top it off, when Lynn went to apologize to you, all you did was blame yourself and offer to be her wrestling buddy when you needed to rest! You really need to relax and stop worrying about upsetting others," Lori finished, not so much out of irritation but more out of worry whenever he showed those types of actions. She did feel bad that he had completely forgotten all he had done on his last birthday, because of the memory loss.

"You're just exaggerating. I just don't want to annoy anybody if I can handle it myself," Lincoln insisted while they stepped into the house, where they were immediately greeted by their dog. The oldest Loud let out a sigh of relief as she went and took a seat on the couch in the living room, Charles jumping up into her lap.

"She's right, you know."

"Ahh!" Lincoln jumped, turning on his heels, "Jeez Lucy… what were you saying?"

Lincoln really wished he could ignore this and head straight to Luna, but if there was a problem that they did not know about yet, then he was not going to go acting strange and drawing suspicion.

"I said Lori is right," Lucy simply repeated. The ebony-clothed gothic of the Loud sisters overheard their conversation clearly. She agreed with their oldest sister as well. He had participated in enough of her dark rituals to know that Lucy rarely skipped to the point. He was pretty sure he didn't even own one fifth of his soul anymore, either. But that was a problem for another day.

"Okay… maybe I have a little problem of being worried. I'm sorry for annoying you with…"

"You're doing it right now," they both said in unison. Lincoln face palmed, not sure how to reply. He loved all his siblings, but worry over upsetting them was glued deep inside his mental programming.

"Lincoln! You sure got home fast," Leni chimed up from the staircase that she came straight to after hearing the door open.

"I dropped everything after that phone call," Lincoln headed off to follow his second oldest sister upstairs, while Lucy and Lori remained in the living room to watch television. Lori, exhausted as she was, could not help but note her siblings' odd worried behavior.

"So what's going on? Is Luna okay?" Lincoln asked. Cliff, the family cat, rested at the top of the steps. He picked up the cat, thinking it could be a means of helping to cheer up his rock loving sister. The cat did not agree to the unwanted pickup, jumping out of his arms before darting off down the stairs, much to his owners disappointments.

"I don't know. She's like, totally torn up… uh, before we go in her room, I just want to talk with you about something," the fashion designer claimed. Her brother wondered why it seemed like all of his sisters wanted personal heart-to-hearts with him, but if he could help with something, he gladly would.

"Okay, Leni, but make it quick. I'm really worried about Luna right now," Lincoln insisted. Personally he hated rushing others, but right now Luna took priority due to his promise.

"It's about you and her… I just wanted you to know, I'm okay with what you two did," Leni tried to keep quiet, since a lot of their family specialized at eavesdropping, whether or not it was accidental was irrelevant.

"With what we did…?" Lincoln began to become nervous.

"Come on, Lincy. Don't make me say the word. It makes my chest feel funny when I just think about it… Luna told me about you two having 'fun' when we all were gone," Leni explained while becoming sheepish at the mere topic of sex, similar to her brother in that regard. He stared in shock upon hearing that. She knew the secret that Lincoln and Luna had kept hidden and agreed on letting it stay that way, unless one of them changed their mind.

"O-oh… You do?" Lincoln nervously coughed while scratching his head. He respected Luna's decision to tell their second oldest sister about their incestuous act. She was not exactly the best at keeping secrets. But this seemed like one she would genuinely do her best to keep hidden.

"Yeah…" Leni sheepishly nodded, only able to say as much as this.

"So, uh… What do you think about it?"

"Well, I still love you both a lot, if that's what you're worried about, I don't know what to think about it all because… well, it depends on how you handle this," Leni murmured. This situation was dire and she was not the right person to deliver the news to him. She hoped that Lincoln himself would be a man about things and handle it calmly. The last thing Luna needed was stress so high that it could kill.

"I knew today was going to be rough… Alright, well, just make sure no one comes in, please," Lincoln requested.

"Don't worry, if there is one thing I'm good at, it's getting in the way." Leni gave a thumbs up. Lincoln tried his best not to laugh, before he proceeded into Luan and Luna's room, closing the door behind him afterwards.

* * *

"Luna?" Lincoln spoke up when he entered the room. His rocking sister was seated on the floor against her bed, strumming lightly on her acoustic guitar like it was the only thing to distract her and keep her comforted.

"Oh hey, Linc…" Luna greeted her only brother, not even looking to him like she was afraid of him. That refusal to give a glance tensed the atmosphere by double.

"So what's going on? Sorry if I took a while getting back. I was in the arcade when Leni called… Can I ask why you told her about what we did?" He decided to break the ice.

"I had to tell someone. I-I can't be alone on this. I needed someone and she was there," the aspiring rock star said tiredly, looking to have spent the last hour crying silently to herself.

"Alone for what? Did I do something wrong? Beyond the obvious… Please tell me," pleaded Lincoln. He still felt bad for doing what he did, even if they both blamed themselves. It was still a rather heinous act they had committed, and his guilt was a lot worse than he let her ever know.

"I… just look," Luna held out her quivering hand. Her only brother took the three positive pregnancy tests she held from her. His brain took a few moments to finally catch up to the situation that had dawned on them.

"Luna… you're joking, right? This is some idea Luan gave you, right?" Lincoln began laughing, slightly aware that it was easy enough to fake a pregnancy test, although he knew it was almost impossible to get false positives three times in a row on pregnancy tests' period. His hope for it to be a joke trailed off when he saw her upset look.

"I'm so sorry, Lincoln. I didn't realize anything... I thought I was just going to start late this month…" Luna whimpered, looking to the floor. Her only brother just stood there with a shocked expression. His eyes were not even focused on anything. His brain was overwhelmed by this news.

"No… t…this can't be right…!"

"I'm sorry! I understand if you're angry with me. I've ruined my career and practically molested you, and now this! All because I lost control that night! I wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for you, Lincoln," the sorrowful Luna tried to stay in control. That very night when their sexual encounter transpired, after the fallout from the record company, she had practically decided on ending it all while her family was out enjoying the night. She had planned on making it look like she had ran away, so she could die without worrying them all in a remote location far away. Lincoln saved her life that night, even if he was not aware of it until now.

"Luna, just… calm down," Lincoln finally spoke. Luna pulled her face up from her hands with tears on her cheeks, seeing her only brother on his knees in front of her, his arms wrapping around her body. "It's a lot to take in, Luna. Sorry if I didn't react that well… But you aren't ruining or burdening anyone. my life wouldn't be anywhere if I didn't have any of you around. I do feel terrible, but being upset and apologizing constantly won't help or change anything."

Luna felt a lot better hearing those words. It was great to know she had not made him mad. He rarely shown it, but his fury could be as bad as Lori's on the rare occasion it was brought out.

"What do you want to do…?" Luna hesitantly asked.

"I don't have the foggiest idea…" Lincoln rubbed the back of his head. He helped his older sister off the floor, glad to see her with that smile on her face again. "Try and relax though, stress isn't good for the baby."

"I was scared you'd want to… y'know… get rid of it," Luna confessed her fears. It would have been an option she would never have been able to go through with. It relieved her to her very soul to know he did not want to put her through all of that. He seemed a little insulted that she would even imagine him suggesting that.

"That's just a cowardly way to avoid taking responsibility. I'm Lincoln Loud. I'm not the strongest, smartest, or the bravest of our family, but I'm still a man," Lincoln chuckled, feeling the tense atmosphere lightening up already. Luna felt relieved to know he wanted to be involved with their soon to be child, but they had many other problems ahead of them. "…Should we tell everyone?"

"No way!" Luna put her hands up and shook her head, "I want to wait until things calm down before we go around causing chaos. We can tell them about who the dad is after the kid's born."

"Makes sense," Lincoln understood. Imagining their parents' reaction alone was terrifying. They would not take the new of him being the father of the child well, at all. "Alright. We'll wait until they're born... I'm going to go shower. I did run all the way here from the arcade…"

Before Lincoln headed for the door though, he felt Luna grab him and give him a quick kiss on his cheek. He smiled, returning her affection gladly. With that conversation handled, Lincoln continued out into the hallway. When the door was opened, he saw Leni fall onto the floor.

"Yow! Oh hi, Lincy! Hi, Luna! I was just… uhm... listening for termites?" Leni sheepishly smiled.

"Eh, good to hear," Lincoln gave a shrug. She did her job as door guard, and she had done it well. He continued off, letting her talk with Luna since he assumed she wanted to.

 _"I'm going to be a dad? …I should be terrified, but I feel… happy,"_ Lincoln thought. Why would he have a sense of pride in his heart overwhelming the guilt and terror? He didn't know. Lincoln got to the bathroom and closed the door behind him, he then took out his cellphone, seeing a few unread text messages from Ronnie Anne and Clyde. They were trying to inquire as to what had happened.

"What am I going to tell Ronnie Anne, though?" he murmured. Maybe it was best to consult his best friend for advice. Luna had trusted Leni with this information. He could surely trust Clyde with a secret, too.

"I love you, Luna, and I sure don't want to be known as the deadbeat uncle when that baby is born, either," Lincoln looked himself in the mirror, making a vow to himself. It was only a matter of months before his life changed drastically for better or worse. He planned on being there for Luna throughout it all.

 **"I'll be more than a good father to them… no matter what."**


	4. Broken Bond

It had been four days since Lincoln bore the news that Luna had told him, he still planned on being supportive with her pregnancy. He had barely left her side since then. Today was the first time he went anywhere on his own. Luna held gratitude for how caring her only brother was being. However, she wanted to be alone today so she could plan on how to break the news of her pregnancy to everyone. Lincoln meanwhile planned to have an important discussion with Clyde. His sleepy head currently rested on a table outside of a fast food restaurant, known as the 'Slice and Dash', one of the more unpopular food locations in Royal Woods. He liked the food, but it was not good enough to get his business daily.

"Lincoln? Dude?" Clyde's voice chimed as he approached his sleeping best friend. He came right away when he had been called, and it took no longer than fifteen minutes to get here at most.

"Wuh? Oh… Hey, Clyde," Lincoln woke up with a long yawn and stretched. He looked to have seldom any energy left.

"You okay? You look like a zombie, dude…" Clyde asked, willing to help his practical brother as he always did, "And I don't mean that in the you 'somehow got superpowers after you died' type of deal."

"Sorry… I wasn't able to sleep at all last night… I don't know why. I was just lying in bed staring at the ceiling and thinking," Lincoln murmured. No matter how much he tried to relax, he had been unable to get a single moment of slumber. He had been lost in his own chaotic-atmospheric thoughts of his future ahead of him.

"Well you sure gave me and Ronnie a good scare the other day," Clyde took a seat across from his dear friend, "You said that you wanted to talk with me about something important?"

"I have no idea where to start…" the middle Loud child let out a long frustrated sigh, not sure what to think of his own situation, especially for doing what felt right in his heart. "…I need to break up with Ronnie Anne."

"What?!" Clyde shouted in shock, gaining the attention of all eyes on them from the few others outside the fast food restaurant.

"I know, calm down…" Lincoln motioned with one hand.

"Dude, it's Ronnie Anne we're talking about! She'll skin you alive! Why do you want to dump her?" Clyde was concerned for the two. They seemed like a perfectly happy couple, even with their many oddities and the relationship being a secret from nearly everybody. It made him wonder if the two's relationship was falling apart in secret, too.

"Calm down, Clyde! Look, I'm going to trust you with a giant secret, okay?" Lincoln said to his best friend. They had practically grown up together and helped each other through the best and worst, some of which involved both families, but they were grateful for every moment of their history together since they first met. Surely he could trust him with one secret.

"A…alright, Lincoln. I'll keep it a secret… as a bro favor," Clyde nodded. Lincoln took in a deep breath, trying to gather all the courage he could to not cower away.

"Clyde… I'm going to be a dad."

"You're what?" Clyde stared. He could not imagine the middle Loud sibling as a father at this age. It had to be a joke.

"I'm going to be a father. Someone very close to me is pregnant. C'mon, Clyde, you took Sex Ed with me," Lincoln repeated more clearly, having more confidence since his friend did not react with a shriek of surprise.

"Are you saying… you cheated on Ronnie Anne? Wow… Lincoln, out of everybody I knew, I figured you'd be the LAST person to cheat on their girlfriend," Clyde exclaimed. Ronnie Anne had a form of competition in the form of fellow classmate, Christina, but one day Christina just started ignoring Lincoln entirely, evidently out of sudden spite towards him, breaking any form of bond apart. Nobody could ever figure out why either.

"I know, I'm a scumbag, Clyde. No need to guilt-trip me. I spent a whole month nearly unable to go on a date, in fact, because I was worried I'd have a heart attack!" Lincoln replied. He felt terrible for doing it, but guilt was not going to rewind time and change history.

"So… who was it with?" Clyde decided to ask the biggest question. His best friend saw no reason to hide a thing. He had gone this far. Why stop now?

"Luna," the middle Loud child flatly said while resting his head in one of his hands.

"I'm sorry, what?" Clyde twitched.

"I got Luna pregnant," Lincoln was getting sick explaining it, and nervous just at the mere mention about breaking up with Ronnie Anne. She was scarily synced up and half the time knew when he was talking about her, like she was a psychic.

"You… okay, clever joke. I mean, I didn't know you even knew about that rumor around school…"

"What rumor?"

"Oh… The uh… The one where everyone says you have sex with your… Older family members," his best friend nervously answered. That rumor that Lincoln ran a harem at home made Clyde jealous at the mere thought of him sharing any form of physical bonding with Lori. His oldest sister, no less.

"I'm not even going to comment about that…" Lincoln groaned. It was now or never, and he knew Clyde was going to take a whole minute or two to absorb it all. "Look. About a month ago, I had sex with Luna and now she's pregnant... So I'm going to take responsibility for getting her pregnant. I'm telling you all this because I want to hear your opinion."

"Well... I mean, alright dude. I'll be honest for you..." Clyde breathed, trying to be cool about the information he bore, "I think it's pretty horrible what you did behind Ronnie Anne's back... but I'm glad you're doing more than a lot of guys would in this type of situation."

"What do you mean?" Lincoln tilted his head, not entirely understanding what he meant.

"I mean, a lot of guys would try to keep dating their girlfriend after they cheated on them," Clyde exclaimed, "They'd lead them on until they eventually discovered the truth themselves. Most dads wouldn't even try to get involved in their kid's life if they didn't intend on making them, and they'd just distance themselves far, far away from their kid. A lot of people grow up with only one parent or the other in their lives."

"I never really thought about things like that..." Lincoln groaned, rubbing his head. He would not be able to live with himself if he continued dating Ronnie Anne when he wanted to be there for Luna and his unborn child. Taking responsibility was a true sign of how much of a man he truly was certainly.

"Well now you can. Y'see, it's hard to raise a child alone. Really hard. That's what a lot of people forget. A kid needs both parents in their lives to help them, but..." Clyde's voice began to trail off. He knew he would not be anywhere near normal if it was not for his two fathers.

"...but those who usually split up, do so because they can't separate their problems," Lincoln finished for him. Some people not meant for each other made the best couples, such as him and Ronnie Anne. Lincoln had only two options. It was either be an actual father and try to tell the truth to everyone eventually, or try to slink away from any form of responsibility. One option would make him feel like a horrible person, and the other would be damning the unborn child to a tougher, grimmer future.

"I've already thought hard about this, Clyde," Lincoln stood up and stretched.

"So what are you going to do?" Clyde questioned, slightly anxious to hear the answer, but he was relieved that this was not a situation where he would have to choose sides.

"I'm going to break up with Ronnie Anne..." Lincoln bit his own lip, "I'm not going to send her a text message or a letter. There's no other way than the respectable way, face to face."

"She's probably going to hit you, y'know," Clyde informed him.

"Can't say I haven't earned a hard punch to the face or two..." Lincoln gave a shrug, "Where is she anyway?"

"Well, it's a Saturday, so probably the skate park to practice her moves," Clyde answered with his best guess, just going off of what she had told them both before.

"Alright. Wish me luck, Clyde, and I'll call you later... thanks for talking with me. It really helped," Lincoln bid him farewell. Clyde waved as he watched his friend leave, but sighed when he was out of earshot.

"Boy, he is going to be slaughtered."

* * *

Lincoln had spent an hour walking the whole way to the Royal Woods Skate Park. One of the biggest skater havens in town, it had been publicly funded, because a lot of skaters were causing trouble in groups and getting hurt, trying to use roads for their skate zones. Nothing stopped them from doing it, but this detoured them slightly and was at least safer for those just learning to skate.

"Oh, there she is," he took notice of his secret girlfriend riding her skateboard on the half pipe. As she was mid-air from a jump, Ronnie Anne saw her boyfriend. She landed outside of the half pipe and rolled right over to him.

"Hey, Lame-o! Didn't think I'd be seeing you here," Ronnie Anne happily hopped off her skateboard and took off her helmet. Lincoln was not the biggest fan of skating. After one slip and a broken ankle, he had vowed to just stick to bicycles whenever he needed faster transportation.

"Sorry for the surprise but I had something really important I needed to talk to you about," Lincoln said, feeling a lot of his confidence slipping away. Already his girlfriend could sense the built tension in the air.

"Why didn't you just call me on my cell phone then?" the Santiago girl asked as they went to a small area that had a few benches set up for skaters to rest up at if they needed to. Thankfully nobody else was there for their private talk.

"Because… Because I love you enough to respect and treat you the right way," the bucktoothed boy replied. His secret girlfriend looked confused. What was so insulting about being called to talk about something important over the phone?

"Okay then, Lincoln… So what is it you want to talk about?" Ronnie Anne decided to try and brush the awkwardness aside. Sadly it seemed to be as prominent as ever, no matter how much she tried to stay relaxed. She just could not shake the feeling that something was wrong with him. Lincoln tried to think of where to start. Rushing this could only worsen things harder than speaking at a normal pace.

"Ronnie Anne, we've been together for three years. I want to know what you think about us," Lincoln remained calm. Sadly he could not see them reaching their four-year anniversary that was coming up in a few months' time.

"About us…? I think we're the least likely couple in school. Hell, I used to think you were the brave straight forward type when you first kissed me," Ronnie Anne chuckled. That was an awkward time, when Lincoln's sisters had told him that when a girl picked on a boy, it meant they liked them. Such a strange thing turned out to be true. Lincoln tried to straight up kiss her when she came to his house. All that resulted in was a black eye and a bunch of apologies from his family, but strangely it turned out to be the start of their relationship.

"I'm sometimes glad my sisters meddle so much… Have you been happy with me?" the question Lincoln brought up confused his girlfriend. They never really had talked about their relationship before. They were the type of couple to never talk about their future since they focused more on present.

"Lincoln, what kind of question is that?" the Santiago girl took her helmet and rested it beside her. She only really wore it when in the skate park for safety, otherwise she hated the protective gear.

"Please, Ronnie Anne…" Lincoln pleaded. She sighed in reply.

"...I've been happier with you than I would ever have been with any of the other boys or girls. You've made me feel like a lot tougher of a person too," Ronnie Anne answered. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow. She never told him that before, but it was a nice compliment.

"I've been really happy with you too… You've really made me do a lot of things I normally would never even have the guts to try doing," Lincoln took in a deep breath to try and savor what little confidence he had left. "That's why I need to apologize to you because I-I kind of… I had sex with someone else a month and a half ago…"

Silence fell. Of course Ronnie Anne had to take it in for a moment.

"You WHAT?!" Ronnie Anne stood up, grinding her teeth with blistering rage in her eyes. Her boyfriend tried to not show any fear beyond a simple flinch.

"I had sex with someone nearly two months ago… And I know nothing I say will ever make what I did behind your back right."

"And why did you wait until NOW to tell ME?" Ronnie Anne did not care for his answer, but she wanted to at least hear him out for the sake of him being truthful. She could at least internally reconcile somewhat over the point of the conversation, if it was him confessing and apologizing. Most would try to hide it and act like they never had cheated on their girlfriend or lie their way out of it.

"Because I wanted to forget it ever happened! We both were trying to forget… I tried to do everything I could to cheer her up, but before I knew it, we were having sex," Lincoln sighed while giving his answer half heartedly, still not able to get over all of this himself.

"So who was it with? Christina?"

"No, it wasn't with Christina. Look, Ronnie Anne, I really want to tell you who I… I…"

"Fucked?"

"Yeah… who I did 'that' with, but I can't, because I'm worried you'll go doing something crazy," Lincoln hated to imagine Luna being attacked by Ronnie Anne. Imagining that alone upset him deeply, he had no idea what he would do if she threatened anyone in his family.

"So you just think you can fuck someone before we do each other, and then think it'll be fixed by telling the truth to me months after it happens? This isn't something you can just hug and kiss to forget!" Ronnie Anne growled, her rage only building with each word. She had been saving her virginity for the Loud boy as well. Lincoln had blown two chances to take their relationship to the next step, mainly because of a fear that their privacy would be invaded during the act and they would never hear the end of it.

"No, Ronnie Anne, it isn't something like that. No person with any actual confidence in themselves would take my apology after what I did. That's one of the reasons for why I'm… why I'm going to break up with you," the sorrowful Lincoln finally forced the words out of his mouth, after the lump in his throat made him nearly freeze up once again.

"You're going to break up with me…?" Ronnie Anne felt disheartened. All anger vanished within less than a second upon hearing that.

"The other reason that I'm breaking up with you, Ronnie Anne, is because she's pregnant… I'm going to be a dad and they'll both need me more than anyone else in this world ever will," Lincoln announced. His now ex-girlfriend was left speechless. He was merely surprised that she didn't hit him. "I'm being responsible for what I'm doing. I loved the time we spent together and… if you still want to be friends, I'll be happy to say yes."

Ronnie Anne turned her back to him. He took that as a sign of her answer.

"Take care, Ronnie Anne… Just call me if you want to talk more," Lincoln informed her. Never would he cut her out of his life. He had done too much to and with her to even consider doing that, all over them no longer being together. When he received no response, he turned around and began to leave, his shoes tapping against the concrete ground with each step echoing slightly as he left.

Ronnie Anne had her arm covering her eyes, trying not to choke out a sob, but she was unable to resist the tears escaping her eyes, the tears falling onto the ground after running over her arm.

 **"Lincoln… You're so sweet an innocent though… Why would you do any of this?"**


	5. Supportive & Caring

"Today can only get better… today can only get better…" Lincoln was nearing home. It was barely one pm yet he felt so tired that it felt more like midnight.

"Hey, Lincoln! Where've you been?"

Lincoln looked to the right to see one of his third youngest sisters, Lana, one of two polar opposite twins, sitting on the ground and wearing her pair of overalls and red cap.

"I went to a fast food joint for lunch… How's your day been, Lana?" Lincoln asked, glad to see a friendly face, and a toothy smile despite missing front teeth, which Lana shared with her twin. The doctors said it was most likely a genetic defect the two suffered from. It was nothing to worry about luckily.

"I got bit by this awesome big snake I found! I wanted to add it to my collection, but Lola distracted me and it got away," Lana explained. To most, that would be a sign of a miserable day, but to her it was just slightly disheartening.

"Check out the marks!" Lana showed her left forearm, it had two giant fang marks on the top of it and slightly smaller ones to the lower side.

"Jeez, Lana… Come on, let's go clean that up," Lincoln grabbed her hand. His younger sibling knew her reptiles very well. If it was a poisonous snake she would have called for help right away to remove it safely. Lincoln was glad the bite was nothing more than a flesh wound.

"Oh, okay…" Lana reluctantly agreed. Wanting to spend some more time playing outside, but nothing was stopping her from coming back afterwards. She appreciated how caring her only brother was, but he sometimes overwhelmed himself with how often he tried to help everyone.

* * *

After a few minutes, the two were in the bathroom. Lana was sitting on the side of the bathtub while her older brother was gently prodding the bite marks with a rag that was lightly soaked in rubbing alcohol. All the young girl could do was bite her lip and withstand the minor burning sensation.

"Sorry, it's going to sting a lot…" Lincoln murmured, "The fangs didn't go too deep, but they still got a good ways in there."

"Is this where I say I told you so?" Lola spoke up, standing in the doorway with her hands on her pink dress-clad hips.

"Hey, if you had helped, nothing would have happened!" Lana stood up angrily.

"You expect me to touch something slimy and gross with my beautiful hands?" Lola rhetorically asked, scoffing at the mere thought.

"You're wearing gloves!"

"They're not made for getting dirty with!"

"Alright! Alright! **Enough you two!** " Lincoln got between the twins and made Lana sit back down on the edge of the bathtub, while making Lola step back, he sighed taking in a breath to compose himself. He had to do something to defuse the situation. The only thing that could be done was to let them both know what they had done wrong during the incident.

"Lana, you know Lola is terrified of a lot of the reptiles. I know you like to play around, but on top of it being dangerous, you can't try and mess with an animal just so you can make Lola afraid or uncomfortable. That's just cruel!"

Lana looked to the floor. It was rare to be scolded by her brother, but it made her feel bad with ease.

"Hmph," Lola gave a confident smirk, but Lincoln turned to her too.

"And Lola, what if that snake had been venomous? You should have watched or at least gotten someone to help Lana. She could have died by the time anyone noticed or when I eventually got home," Lincoln continued his scolding. Most of their older siblings were not home at the moment, and the few who were couldn't watch over the younger family members all the time. The Loud family would have suffered a traumatic loss that they would never have been able to recover from if that snake had been dangerous.

"Oh gosh…!" Lola covered her mouth with a gasp. Imagining it alone shook her to her core. Lana stared, a little wide eyed. Normally Lincoln would never go into that kind of detail or even try to picture the grim side of a scenario. Surely he was acting different.

"Now you two know what to say to each other?" Lincoln asked, letting the two twins meet again.

"I'm sorry, Lana… I got you hurt by being so afraid."

"What? It's not your fault, Lola! I should be saying sorry for trying to make you do something you don't like doing… And for being a jerk about it," Lana responded. Lincoln face palmed. Now that the twins were going back and forth with apologies. It was better than a violent brawl in a dust cloud, though. Afterwards, the two twins hugged once they finally accepted each others apologies.

"Feel better now?" Lincoln asked, happy at the scene before him.

"Mh-hm…" Lola hummed.

"A lot," Lana grinned. Lincoln was more than glad to see them both happy. Once the two were done hugging, he returned to bandaging up Lana's arm, her twin staying by the sink.

"You've been acting different lately, Lincoln," Lana could not help but comment while he finished wrapping the gauze around her injury.

"Well, things have been kind of stressful… I mean more stressful than usual," Lincoln shrugged. He made sure the bandaging was not going to slip, and he helped his little sister stand back up. "There… I want you to come to me before bed tonight so I can check the bite mark and change the bandage, okay?"

"Alright, Linc! Thanks for taking care of me," Lana jumped up and wrapped her arms around her brother's neck, giving him a tight hug that he gladly returned. Lola had a somewhat jealous look on her face. She hated not being the center of attention. The twins often fought over which one of them was their brother's favorite, even though he always said he had no favorite sibling.

"It's nothing, Lana. Family has to always be there for each other, right?" Lincoln let her back down. He had grown quite significantly in these last few years. The twins were only half his height despite their ages.

"Lana is right. You've been kind of acting like… Well, I don't know really," Lola shrugged, not able to find words for it.

"Like a bigger brother?" Lincoln jokingly guessed while washing his hands. The two had never really ever gotten one of their fights disrupted that fast before. The makeup afterwards was the fastest they ever had forgiven each other as well.

"No, not that. You're acting like a dad," Lola snapped her fingers upon finally getting the right thing to compare Lincoln's actions to. He did not pay the comment much attention, whether it was an insult or a compliment was unimportant to him. It seemed fitting after all.

"Yeah! You've been taking care of everyone so much lately. Especially Luna," Lana added. Their only brother tried not to show any reaction. He gave a bright smile from thinking about the future alone. Because of how rough his day had been, it was welcomed to try and look forward instead of backwards.

"Well, it is my job to take care of everyone. Or at least try to help," Lincoln claimed. Ever since he was young he had always tried to take care of the rest of his family. There was the good times and the bad times, but it was always worth it to him, even when they did something terrible to him.

"We should be taking care of you. I mean, you look ready to pass out," Lola retorted. Lincoln could not deny that he was nearly out of energy. Today had been both physically and emotionally taxing, and being up for over a day straight did nothing to help.

"Tell you what. I'll make you two a deal. When I turn sixty, maybe you can start taking care of me then, alright?" Lincoln laughed. The twins were both happy to see a bright smile on him so much lately. "I'm going to go check up on Luna. Come find me if you need anything."

"She actually told us she had an important thing to talk about tonight with everyone," Lola informed him, the twins both being oblivious to the main worry on the back of their brothers mind. Lincoln was pretty sure he knew what this important announcement was about.

"Alright, well, make sure everyone knows," Lincoln requested. The two twins happily nodded, letting their brother go. Lana and Lola went to do what he asked, making sure the family would be there for this important news tonight.

* * *

Lincoln knocked on the door to Luna and Luan's room. Lately, anytime Luna was alone in the room, she closed the door. She used to not care about leaving the door open. While Lincoln should not normally pay any attention toward it, it still made him worried. It seemed like his rock loving sibling was trying to isolate herself whenever she had the chance.

"Come in!" Luna's voice sounded. Lincoln opened the door on cue and entered the room.

"Hey, Luna. How are you holding up?" Lincoln asked, seeing Luna writing away.

"I'm fine, Lincoln. Like I told you the last twenty times you asked this morning," she lightly laughed in reply as she put away the paper she was writing on. It was surely a personal project or another song to add onto her album. She knew Lincoln was continuously worried for her health though.

"You don't have to worry. Luan is off grocery shopping with Lori and Lucy," Luna stretched and laid back to try and relax. Her little brother took a seat beside her, still feeling at least an inch away internally from feeling irredeemable.

"So what have you been up to today?" Luna asked while looking to the father of their unborn child, she could tell he had not had the best of days.

"I talked to Clyde about… y'know, us? I told him everything," Lincoln stated, hoping his pregnant sibling would not be too upset with that.

"How'd he handle it?" Luna replied. She understood his reasoning for doing it. He needed someone to go to like she did with Leni after finding out about the pregnancy.

"He took it about as well as to be expected… He told me how I was doing more than most men would in my situation too," Lincoln answered. Luna did not know how to respond to that, but at least it sounded like things went well.

"He's not wrong. So let me ask, why are you so down? I can tell when you're faking being happy," Luna said. He had put on that fake smile so much for everyone over these last few years, she learnt it well.

"Hey, this isn't me faking being happy… or at least mostly it isn't," he started with only half denying the claim, "I dumped Ronnie Anne… err… She was my girlfriend for these last three years, and I feel like the biggest scumbag alive for what I've done on her."

"Wait the Santiago girl? She was your girlfriend?" Luna stared in shock, but she soon gave a grin. She was right about the two having a connection all those years ago that her and her siblings believed easily.

"Yeah," Lincoln sadly nodded.

"Lincoln, I'm so sorry… Why'd you break up with her?" Luna put an arm around him and brought him into a light hug, feeling terrible that this happened to their relationship.

"I told you I'd be there to take care of you and the baby. I couldn't go leading Ronnie Anne on like that. I told her that I was going to be a dad, apologized for cheating on her, and I left when she started ignoring me," Lincoln explained in a somewhat brief summary of what had transpired. His own personal guilt disallowed him to lie or continue the relationship any longer than he had done already.

"Lincoln…" Luna did not know what to say. She could not change his own decisions, and she knew he was not the type to do anything on impulse or on a whim.

"Look, Luna, I just want to make sure that our child will be alright… She's going to need both of us with her," Lincoln tried to focus more on the upside and his reasoning while changing the topic. His pregnant sibling picked up on that, deciding if he wanted to talk more about it, then she would be there to listen.

"Wait, what makes you think it'll be a girl?" Luna raised an eyebrow.

"I have a feeling I've got dad's luck," Lincoln responded. Him being born in the family as a boy was a one in a hundred chance, though with a man growing his family constantly, those chances were pretty high no matter what he assumed.

"I'm thinking it'll be a boy," Luna grinned.

"How would you know that?" He chirped.

"It's just a feeling I have. I mean, it is MY body after all," she insisted, the atmosphere becoming a lot lighter in seconds.

"We'll see… so you're going to tell everyone the news tonight?" Lincoln questioned. He knew they had to wait for a couple more months before they could find out the gender of their child, and even longer before they could tell anyone that he was the father.

"Yep! I don't have much confidence, buuut… I know it'll be fine, as long as you're there with me," Luna smiled and gave him a tight hug, and Lincoln gladly returned it. Just the thought of him wanting to be with her every step of the way made Luna's heart skip a beat. Lincoln was glad to know he could be of help to at least atone for his mistake.

 _"I can already tell tonight's going to be chaotic..."_


	6. Family Meeting

**Authors note: Yeah I just wanted to say thanks for all the support, I'm surprised that this stories gotten so much notice. Still can't believe it's nearing 10,000 views...Oh well, sorry if this chapter sucks, we're nearing the halfway point, this is Fallen Pens. Dropping out.**

Lincoln currently lay in his bed with his eyes closed. He was trying to catch up on sleep, since it would not be long before it was time for Luna to make the large announcement to the family. He was trying to not let any nightmares seep into his dreams from the worry alone. While the teenager slept, the door to his room opened gently.

"Mhm…" he shifted slightly in his sleep. Oblivious to the tiny tot crawling into his bed, quietly.

"Wha… Lily?" Lincoln groggily murmured as he felt his body move slightly. He opened his eyes to see his youngest sibling in a rainbow colored dress, snug in his arms and nuzzled into him. Lily continued her false slumber as he soothed her head with a stroke of his hand, running his fingers through her hair. Lily giggled, feeling slightly tickled by his hand.

Lincoln wanted to talk to his youngest sister. When Lily was young, everyone talked to her about everything, it always made them feel better for some reason. It caused the youngest Loud to grow a very similar mindset like her brothers, always wanting to keep the peace between everybody while making them all happy as well. Needless to say it was as hit and miss as his own efforts tended to be.

"Alright, Lily, I'll let you take a nap with me… again," Lincoln chuckled while pulling the blanket up over them. Lily had a big smile on her face. He was glad to make her happy, no matter how many times she snuck into his room to sleep. "…Can I ask you something, Lily?"

Lily was not talkative. She was in fact quieter lately, she seemed to just lose the desire to talk the older she grew. But she still was a great listener. Lily gave a nod while rolling over to face him.

"Lily, I've been able to talk with you about everything in my life, so I want to know… Do you think I'd be a good dad?" Lincoln popped the question. His youngest sibling hugged her brother. He guessed that was enough of a sign of her answer. He had some of the largest involvement with raising Lily since she was first born. Coincidentally, Luna had just as big of an involvement raising her.

"Well, take it easy... Next time just ask when you want to take a nap with me," Lincoln chuckled. Lily stayed nuzzled into him as he lay back, wanting to return to his sleep. He would need all the energy he could muster for tonight.

* * *

Hours had passed. Everyone was home now and Luna was gathering everyone for the family meeting. It was not too hard luckily thanks to Lola and Lana. She approached the younger siblings' room, a single room shared between the four youngest Loud sisters. It was as messy as one could imagine.

"Hey Lisa, are ya busy?" She chimed up for her second youngest sibling, who had achieved a PHD before she was even six.

"No. I'm just monitoring this odd growth pattern in certain plants. Rather passive study, I know, but still relevant," Lisa stated. She had a long white lab coat on top of her green sweater that somewhat dragged on the floor. Her glasses rested loosely on her face as she focused.

"Oh, that's… cool? Anyway, I wanted to tell you we're having a family meeting in a few minutes," Luna stated. She barely understood Lisa's scientific language. Half the time, her words went right over her head.

"I'm aware. The main point of this meeting is the announcement of your pregnancy, I take it?" The child prodigy asked, her back still facing her older sister. Luna stared, wide eyed.

"How'd you… I mean… it is, but… how did you find out?" Luna questioned, wanting to initially freak out, but she bit her tongue. She wondered if Leni had been tricked into spilling the truth.

"Your symptoms and recent actions are an obvious giveaway. It doesn't take a genius to tell when someone is pregnant."

"…Cheap shot there," Luna was about to leave in a huff, until the genius spoke again.

"So are you also going to announce that Lincoln's the father?"

Luna felt her heart skip and quickly turned around.

"Wha-what? How do you know all this?!" Luna swallowed hard. Her anxiety and nervousness was now going through the roof. How her second youngest sister was able to stay calm while knowing this information was beyond her.

"Our family is quite volatile, so to make sure nobody would do anything terrible to another, and to have evidence recorded for mom and dad so the innocent don't get punished, I have video cameras and microphones set up in different rooms," Lisa explained while bringing Luna over to her computer. After a few clicks, the video player was brought up.

"Oh, what in the name of Mick Swagger…" the rock lover could only stare at the video footage, that currently was showing her and Lincoln having sex from that near two months ago.

"I must admit. I was shocked when this video turned up on my capture feed. But frankly, it is also very fascinating," Lisa said while watching with a straight face as usual. She was not emotionless, but she rarely showed her emotions.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Luna asked, still trying to get over the internal tremors of her body.

"Oh, I'm just stating that it's interesting to see how you two mate. I've watched this recording a dozen times and my information grows more each time... Sadly with a shared room, it's rather hard to view a video with this strange form of… you could say, immoral intercourse," Lisa finished. Luna closed the laptop with a deep red blush across her face.

"What'll it take to make you not tell anyone?" Luna begged, "Please, Lisa, I don't want anyone to know who the father is until after they're born, at least!"

"Alright, calm down… first, please refrain from being so close within my personal space. Secondly, relax, because stress will only harm your unborn child. And thirdly, I don't want anything but to help," Lisa exclaimed. Luna did not believe that too much, she wished everything did not easily make her anxious lately. She was starting to think it was another symptom of her pregnancy.

"Okay, so what do you get from helping us?" Luna replied. There was obviously an underlying motive behind the offer to help. Lisa took a seat at her desk.

"Well frankly, with a family as large as ours I was anticipating something like, well, shall we classify it as a 'beneficial relationship', though I was honestly expecting that to be forged between Lucy and Lincoln, but that is irrelevant now," Lisa began. Luna could not even believe half the things she was hearing right now. This was a little overboard, even for a methodical prodigy.

"I want to see the results on the entire family, both socially, physically, emotionally and mentally… I'm interested in seeing how you and Lincoln develop throughout this situation as well," Lisa finished. It seemed this whole pregnancy fiasco was a giant research experiment that presented itself to her so well that she could simply not pass it up.

"Uhh… Well, I mean… Okay… I guess I'd feel a lot better knowing a doc's able to check up on me whenever I feel like it," Luna saw no harm in this, since it sounded about as dangerous as watching zoo animals behind a glass wall, though sometimes their family could be more dangerous than said animals.

"And I'll be more then glad to assist," Lisa gave a small smile. She may not be a doctor, but she knew enough about pregnancies to be of help a lot more than other members of their family. Luna gave her a small hug, feeling relieved. With that done, the two left the room to get ready for the family meeting.

* * *

Lincoln groaned, feeling himself being dragged out of his room while he carried the half awake Lily in his arms.

"Thanks for waking us Lynn, but next time, at least let us wake up completely before you yank us around," the teenage boy requested. Lynn was pulling him along by his arm, currently wearing her favorite sports jersey for her bed time clothes.

"You two become rocks when you sleep together," Lynn jokingly replied while they headed downstairs. They were almost impossible to wake up every time they fell asleep together, but the sports loving girl easily fixed it with one good wrestling technique.

"What can I say? I'm apparently a great pillow," Lincoln shrugged, watching as Lily yawned while rubbing her eyes tiredly, wanting to go right back to sleep already.

"Oh, don't worry. Everyone knows that already," Lynn grinned. A lot of the Loud family often fell asleep together at random when they were short on energy. But nobody minded. It made them feel better after they woke back up.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" They heard their father, Lynn Sr., chime up. He and his wife Rita stood, and a nervous Luna was between them.

"All but the animals anyway," Lincoln announced, going over to the couch to join the rest of his siblings. He rested Lily down, letting her have the last open seat. The teenage boy took a place on the carpet beside Leni and Lucy. Lynn plopped down beside them as well.

"Alright, Luna. You wanted this meeting, so what's going on?" Rita asked. She and Mr. Loud joined their other children, letting their rock aspiring daughter have the spotlight of attention to herself.

"Well… I know you've all been able to tell I've been acting weird the last few weeks," Luna started. There were a lot more who already knew about her pregnancy than she wanted, and that alone made her more nervous. She saw Lincoln make a motion to not freeze up now.

"You've been the _'apple'_ of everyone's eyes lately," Luan punned at her sister's recent cravings. The entire room let out a series of groans.

"Look, I'm just going to come out and say it, because otherwise I'm going to choke and wuss out. So listen… the reason I've been acting different lately is because I… I'm pregnant," Luna went straight for the point while she had enough courage left. Lincoln did not anticipate her making the announcement so bluntly, but guessed there was no better way.

"Oh my gosh, really?! Yay!" Leni gave the best fake shock of joy she could fabricate.

"Splendid," Lisa gave a half-hearted clap.

"What?!" Lori gasped. No matter how tired she was from work, it woke her right up.

"Really?!" Lola squealed in glee.

"Awesome!" Lana cheered.

"Yay!" Lily laughed and clapped.

"My… That is a surprise," Lucy spoke in her usual monotone voice, she was quite pleased with the news.

"Talk about a 'high note'," Luan chuckled.

 **"Luan!"**

"I had a feeling…" Rita was not entirely surprised. Mr. Loud however looked ready to faint on the spot.

"That's great, Luna!" Lincoln happily said, flashing that bright bucktoothed smile on his face. Luna felt a lot more at ease by his presence, especially knowing that he had no plans on making a getaway anytime soon.

"So… Who's the dad?" Lynn brought up the biggest question on everyone's minds.

"I…" Luna felt unsure how to reply. She was hoping the shock of the news would make that question slip by without even a slight glance. "I can't say."

"Luna, you can tell us who the lucky guy is. This should be seen as a good thing," Lynn Sr. claimed once he was over the shock. Their rock loving daughter had been so depressed until the last few weeks. The pregnancy seemed to be remedying her woes, giving her something to focus on and have another plan for the future to help get over the record company failure.

"No, I mean, I-I can't say, because… Because I don't know who the dad is. It was at a party nearly two months ago. I was drunk, and he was a smooth talker…" Luna gave the first lie that came to her panicked mind. Lincoln felt his heart twinge a little in guilt. He wanted to stand up and let everyone know the truth to help get the stress off his pregnant sibling. Sadly, he had agreed to keep quiet about his fatherhood until their child was born.

"Oh, _Luna,_ " Rita could only say. The parents sounded very disappointed about this.

" **But!** " Lincoln chimed, standing up. He could not stay quiet anymore. He had to support the one carrying his child.

"What's important is you're taking responsibility, right Luna?"

"Yeah… I just have to work twice as hard for the kid… and my dreams," Luna brought him into a one armed hug to show her appreciation.

"Well that's great to hear! Honestly, I was expecting to hear this type of news from Lori first," Leni claimed.

"What? Why me?" Lori looked to her. She was too busy in her life to even consider having a kid. She needed at least a few more months before she even moved out of the home, settling was her main focus currently.

"I've seen you sneaking out to hang out late with Bobby a lot," Leni exclaimed. Lori had a blush on her face.

"I don't like hearing this kind of stuff," Lynn Sr. murmured. If it was Lori that was pregnant, it would at least relieve him that Bobby was a gentle and resourceful person.

"So how about we celebrate?" Lola suggested to try and calm things down before Leni's accidental slip of the tongue happened again.

"That sounds good right about now," Lucy agreed with a smile.

"What should we do then?" Lynn questioned. The youngest Loud child spoke her suggestion before everyone else.

"Pizza?" Lily asked, holding her favorite blanket from her younger days.

"Sounds pretty _'cheesy',_ but good to me," Luan gained another round of groans.

"Yeah! Pizza!" Lana agreed eagerly.

"Well, I should be watching my weight, but… I think I can make an exception," Lori nodded, more than up to ordering pizza.

While everyone was distracted talking about how many pizzas and what toppings to get, Luna went into the kitchen with Lincoln, going over to the sink to get some water.

"I feel like I'm going to throw up…" Luna coughed. That had been a lot more taxing on her than she expected.

"If that'll make you feel better, then go ahead," the middle Loud boy said. The mess would be easy to clean from the sink. Morning sickness was one thing, but late afternoon sickness was something new to him.

"Sorry I had to lie like that, bro," Luna apologized, feeling terrible for lying like that. Despite the circumstances, it still made her feel bad.

"I told you to just relax," Lincoln rubbed his hand on her back, "I hate knowing you had to lie at all, but I hate seeing you stressed out more."

"Do you think things'll get easier now…?" the rock loving Loud weakly asked, while holding her head

"I think? Maybe it will, maybe it won't, but you can't let it get to you," Lincoln claimed. All they could do was work together to get through everything that might come toward them.

"Alright, alright… I'm pretty sure I'd be dead by now if it weren't for you, anyway," Luna jokingly commented. Her brother did not even acknowledge the comment. Lincoln rolled his eyes before giving her a kiss on the cheek to try and cheer her up.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again. I'll _**always**_ be there for you."

"Thanks, Lincoln... You're the best bro in the world. I'm sure you'll be a great dad too."


	7. Overprotective

**Authors note: Sorry for this chapter being shorter than normal, but I had no choice due to next chapter. Sorry. Fallens pens, dropping out.**

It had been three months since the Loud family first heard the announcement of Luna's pregnancy. Things were so great at first to Lincoln, and they remained that way for a solid month or so. But sadly, things decayed in certain aspects. A lot of the Loud family was still supporting Luna's decision to bear children before she was older, but some had begun to dislike the idea. It was making her act different, and to them, not in a good way.

"Left, left, left… uhhh, wait… I think it needs to go right… no, that's wrong too," Lincoln was trying to guide three of his sisters into setting up a ridiculously complicated lawn game they had found in their basement, one of their fathers old toy's from when he was young. Not so surprisingly, it was very hard to move a large target dummy around.

"Lincoln, I'm starting to think the instruction manual isn't too reliable," Lisa said. Lincoln looked down at the manual. It had a lot of its instructions smudged due to water damage and the paper had withered partially due to age.

"Yeaaaaaaah… But the internet didn't help, so we have to use it or we can make up our own game out of this," Lincoln nodded in agreement while giving the manual to his super genius sibling, hoping she might be able to make heads and tails of it.

"I don't mind, there's plenty of mud after all," Lana laughed while being relaxed in one of the many mud puddles that she ever so enjoyed, it was just a common pastime to her.

"I thought this was going to be more physical," Lynn exhaled in disappointment. Trying to set up the game was a chore in itself. Lincoln shook his head, considering giving up on it.

"Sorry again for wasting all of your time... I'm going to go check up on Luna," Lincoln turned his back to them and began his way back inside the house.

"…Anyone else notice he's been Luna's butler lately?" Lana asked while loosely fixing her red cap back on the top of her head.

"I'd be surprised if he wasn't acting as such, considering the twos close bond," Lisa shook her head while brushing the oddity aside despite knowing the truth of the two siblings relationship, she had sworn to secrecy. The child prodigy so far was gaining a lot from her monitoring studies under the circumstances.

"Luna's been so tired lately that she half the time falls asleep in Lincoln's room," Lynn added, not that she could complain, the Loud boy probably had the best bed of the house next to their parents.

"Hopefully it'll all calm down when the baby is born," Lisa refocused her attention upon the instruction manual.

* * *

Lincoln wiped his shoes off on the rug of the front door. When he stepped into the house, a sense of worry hit him fast, and his fear came true when he could hear the sounds of a few of his sisters arguing again. He headed straight up the stairs, ignoring the few family members he passed by while making his way upstairs in a slight rush, going straight to his pregnant sister's room.

"It's stupid! They already screwed you once. What's stopping them from pulling the same stunt again?!" Lori's angry tone rung out. There she stood in a blue shirt and shorts. It was one of her few days off from work today, and unfortunately relaxing was not her specialty as of late.

"They have a new head running the company now, Lori! Do you want me to just give up on everything I've worked so hard for?!" Luna shot back. She had put on a good bit of weight these last few months, so much so that she had to wear more loose fitting clothing for personal comfort now.

"Stop!" Lincoln got in between them. This was not the first fight that he had caught the oldest Loud sister causing trouble, normally he would doubt both of them, but as of recent time Lori had been doing nothing short of raising hell.

"What's going on?"

"I'll tell you what's going on," Lori growled, "Luna here is putting her music career before her child."

"Lori's upset because I was offered to meet with the new head of the Recardia Record Company today to talk about my albums. The new one and my old one. She's been harping on me for the last half hour about it," Luna explained, seeming genuinely upset by this argument. Luan was nowhere to be seen in the room, having presumably vanished before the fight even started.

"Really? But they ruined your music last time you went…" Lincoln muttered, not sure if a change in company owners would really make a real difference. On the other hand, Luna had spent the last few months working away on her second album. It was pretty promising from what little he had heard.

"What do you mean she's putting the child second though, Lori?" The middle sibling continued to play middleman, though his anger built every time he caught their oldest sister harassing Luna. It had happened far too often for him to tolerate anymore.

"I'm trying to make her think about the future! Just think about it. If she does get that music gig going, all she'll do is be away from home, go on tours, and leave that kid to be taken care of by mom and dad," Lori elaborated, being more worried that their sister was doing things blindly and not even trying to think about the child's future, essentially upset over not having a real plan.

"I'm trying to get my music gig going so that I can take care of this child in the first place! What kind of idiot do you take me for?! I can do more than one thing at a time. I can fulfill my dream and take care of this baby," Luna found this worry ridiculous. Lincoln motioned them both to calm down. He mentally wished Lola and Lana were the ones fighting instead, at least they were easy to disrupt.

"Luna, there's nothing anyone will ever say that should make you even think about giving up on music. That beat in your heart is yours to follow. If there is any opening to get your foot in the door of the music industry, you should at least hear it out, and if it is good, then take it." Lincoln began, trying to stay composed himself, "But Lori, you sound ridiculous. There are a lot of rock stars with children and they usually turn out like any other normal child. You've been so hypocritical this last month, that it hurts."

"What? How am _I_ being a hypocrite? I'm not the one who promised to take responsibility for being a drunken idiot at a party only to then act like the baby is nothing more than temporary weight," Lori retorted. She could practically feel the aura her little brother was giving off. The last few years had made him almost as tall as Lori, along with a lot of the older half of the family. Having him nearly at her eye level.

"Because Luna is stressed enough, and you're making her stress worse. I don't want to deal with this," he took in a deep breath, "If I catch you doing this again…"

"What? You're going to go tell mom and dad?" Lori felt her heart skip a beat when Lincoln punched the wall beside her, he had her against the wall with his rage filled gaze piercing her.

"No, but I'm not going to stand around while you hurt both Luna and her baby. You're supposed to be an aunt. I don't care if you're not happy with her choices. That doesn't give you a right to act like this!"

Luna was in shock. She was happy he was standing up for her, but she was scared to see such fury from him.

"If you want me to go into detail about what will happen if you don't stop pulling this crap and apologize, I'm going to have your relationship ruined," Lincoln then threatened, "I already broke up with Ronnie Anne. I don't really care about seeing you heartbroken, too. And frankly, I think you deserve it. But hey, I'm sure he'd love to hear how you like to hurt someones unborn child with too much stress."

Lori felt her eyes water slightly. She knew about his secret relationship with her boyfriend's sister. She in turn knew that he was serious with every word he said, the last sentence was just salt in her emotional wound. " _I'm sorry_ …"

" **For?** " Lincoln nodded, pressing her to continue.

"For... for being a terrible aunt and an even worse sister… to both of you," Lori forced out. He forced her to see how wrong she was, or at least force her perspective to change in a very aggressive way. She left the room with her head hung, demoralized.

 _"What happened to Lincoln? Does he hate me…?"_ Lori wondered, not daring to look back. She deep down cared a lot for everyone in their family. She had no idea why it had upset him so much, but his rage had shaken her to her core. It made her ponder how to make things up with him.

"Wow, Linc… I haven't seen you that angry in a long time," Luna murmured. The last time her child's father had gotten this furious, was when Lola had accidentally cut Lana with scissors by being careless in a fight, but even then that anger did not compare to this level of fury. Their parents sure knew he meant well, so they did not see any need to make him go to anger management considering how rarely the outbursts were.

"Sorry… Guess I might have started to become overprotective of you," Lincoln rubbed the back of his neck, trying to calm down, but he wanted to tear apart half of Lynn's training dummies right now.

"I don't need you to fight my battles for me… but I still appreciate it," Luna gave him a tight hug, picking him off the floor by a few inches. Lincoln accepted it with a smile growing on his face. She may be pregnant, but lately he was the one being more overemotional out of the two of them.

"Can I come out now?" they heard a scared voice. The two looked back at the doorway. The door closed and they saw Leni standing there, having hid there for some time.

"Leni? What're you doing back there?" Luna asked, confused.

"I wanted to congratulate you about your second chance at the record deal… but then I saw Lori coming and I panicked. I wanted to come out but then Lincy got mad, and, and… " Leni began to ramble. Lincoln came over to her and began to rummage around his pockets before pulling out a piece of candy that Lily had given him earlier this morning.

"I know you can't exactly walk and chew bubblegum at the same time, Leni, but you need to relax as much as Luna does right now… I don't think you have to worry about Lori starting trouble again," he let Leni take the bubblegum. She was unfortunately very easy to scare. He felt terrible for terrifying her like that. "Say, Luna, when's the meeting anyway?"

"In an hour and a half… This time I plan on being on top of everything that seems even slightly shady," Luna stated, reassuring that no one was going to be pulling any purposefully botched editing to her music behind her back.

"Then good luck on the meeting. I wish I could come, but I have to meet up with Clyde about something important," Lincoln apologetically spoke. Luna nodded, unwilling to go dragging him along to a long, litigious meeting.

"Hey, how about I come?" Leni offered her sister, wanting to continue to be supportive. She was not feeling safe at home at the moment either.

"Sure, Leni. We better get going, I'd like to be there early" Luna smiled before she left with their second oldest sister. As she left she gave Lincoln a quick kiss. He stayed with a smile as he watched them leave.

"Guess I better go get ready too," Lincoln began to head for his room to prepare for his own personal meeting at hand. As he passed by Lori and Leni's locked door, he could hear light sobs.

"I don't think they'll mind me arriving early for my interview anyway..." Lincoln thought to himself, the sobs were light so he could barely hear it, but he chose it ignore it. He just hoped he taught Lori a lesson.

"I miss when everything was easier...Guess that's on me though."


	8. Uncertainty

**Authors note: I just wanted to thank you all for the 10,000 views. I'm honestly surprised by how much people like this fic, mainly because this is the first ever story I've made, and to top it off I have had no experience writing up until now, but yeah we're at the halfway point. So I hope you all enjoy. This is Fallen Pens, dropping out.**

"Oh, Bobby, it was awful…" Lori whimpered through her choked sobs, lying on her bed stomach first, having barely calmed down after crying into her pillow for the last twenty minutes. Her phone was between her head and shoulder.

"It sure sounds like it, babe," Bobby agreed with his girlfriend of the last couple of years. Even now they had such an airtight relationship compared to many others.

"I-I've never seen Lincoln so mad with me before. When he had me against the wall, I was scared that I might've broke him and made him hate m-me," Lori continued her worried talk. Lincoln had really shaken her. She felt even worse thinking that he had no remorse for it.

"Calm down, sweetie. He's your brother. Maybe he was having a bad day," Bobby tried to calm his girlfriend down. Her crying intensified at the mere thought of Lincoln hating her. She would feel nightmarish if any of her siblings showed that much anger with her. Even during one of the many Loud family lynches did nobody show that much hate against her.

"H-he said I was a terrible aunt and I was h-hurting Luna's baby… and he's right! I'm just a monster…" Lori choked. Bobby had no clue what to say to lift her spirits. Lori chose not to tell her boyfriend about Lincoln's threat to end their relationship, as it came off like just a heat of the moment slip of the tongue to her.

"Babe, you're just over thinking things. I'm sure it's nothing. You apologized to him and Luna. Figure out a way to make things up to him and it'll be fine," Bobby wished he was there right now beside her. Sadly, he had a dozen different jobs with an unstable chaotic schedule every week. All of his bosses appreciated him a lot for being a dedicated hard worker.

"I-I hope so… Bobby, he told me something weird during that fight," the oldest Loud began while hoping she was not distracting her boo-boo bear from his work. Luckily his attention was not demanded so much at the grocery store today. Bobby was seated outside on a bench, relaxing with the bright sun beating onto him.

"Weird is normal for a lot of your family, baby. What'd he say?" Bobby was able to tell easily that Lori was holding back on telling him something, but he did not want to press her for every last detail since that would do nothing beyond remind her of her brother's rage almost breaking.

"He told me that he and Ronnie Anne broke up…" she muttered.

"Wait, what?" Bobby sat up with a raised eyebrow. His little sister said nothing about this, but with her having been depressed the last two months, it made too much sense.

"I'm so sorry, Bobby. I don't know. He told me that he had broken up with her. I don't know why or when."

"She never talked about that… I just figured she was having some bad luck…" Bobby had no idea how to feel about this. He was looking to the ground until he caught a glimpse of Lincoln and Clyde walking out from the grocery store he worked at. How convenient of them to be there, too. "I'll call you back babe. I love you."

"I love you too, Bobby… Thanks for talking to me," Lori thanked him for that before the phone call ended, Bobby saw the two fifteen-year-olds talking at a nearby part of the parking lot.

"I'm sorry, dude. I figured my granddad would be able to help," Clyde apologized to his best friend. The middle Loud child looked demoralized.

"Thanks anyway, Clyde. I'll just have to try somewhere else," Lincoln muttered. Clyde helped set up the interview on such short notice in the first place. Taking advantage of a friend's family ties made the only Loud boy feel terrible enough, but he needed any advantage he could get right now.

"Lincoln! Clyde! Hey, what are you two doing here?" Bobby greeted the two. He thought they knew that he worked here. It was hard to keep up with his schedule.

"Oh hi, Bobby," Clyde gave a small wave.

"Hey, Bobby. I was here for a job interview, but I wasn't what they were looking for," Lincoln stated. He was not entirely sure anymore what kind of worker a grocery store would be looking for.

"Lincoln, do you mind if we talk? Privately?" Bobby requested. Lincoln nodded, not seeing any harm in it.

"I'll wait for you at the bus stop, dude," Clyde told his best friend before heading off, having a pretty bad hunch what this conversation was going to be about. His best friend was able to guess pretty easily as well.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Lincoln breathed.

"I was talking with Lori… and I don't want to get involved with the fight thing. You two can settle that yourselves," Bobby began. Lincoln looked to him confusedly, not surprised by Lori's actions.

"Alright… go on."

"She said you and Ronnie Anne had broken up. I wanted to ask what happened," Bobby requested. He did raise his little sister, though she hated him for how overbearing he tended to be, but it did little to detour his father like care for her.

"I'll be as honest as I can, Bobby… I ruined our relationship," Lincoln simply said, a sorrowful tone setting in.

"Come on, man. It's never a hundred percent anyone's fault when a relationship falls through. What really happened?" Bobby continued to press. He was a lot closer with Lincoln than many thought, so it made him feel bad to see a good friend of his so sad.

"Well… Ronnie Anne was a little abusive with me, though we kept our relationship secret, and we were both happy with it… But I couldn't keep dating her. It'd have been a giant insult to her as a person and as the one I loved," the teenage boy sighed. No matter what he was told, he believed he had only himself to blame for the ruined relationship.

"What could you have done that could be so bad?" Bobby went over with Lincoln to the vending machine and began to insert some quarters into it.

"I had sex with someone that… that wasn't her, and now that person is pregnant… that's why I'm trying to get a job," Lincoln explained. Bobby stared in awe at him his eyes wide as the Loud child was hitting a few buttons on the vending machine to get a bag of chips.

 **"Come again?"**

"I'm going to be a father… I broke up with Ronnie Anne to take responsibility, and I'll be working on the side until I finish with school, haven't gotten the first steps of my plan done yet." Lincoln repeated himself while giving his plan for the future. On one hand, Bobby was angry at him for betraying Ronnie Anne's love. On the other hand, he was happy that he did not try to lead his sister on after cheating on her like nothing ever happened, and respecting her.

"Wow… dude, that's pretty messed up? I really got no clue what to say," Bobby spoke while getting out a bar of chocolate. Things fell silent from there. Lincoln had grown used to this awkward atmosphere after ending up in it several times. "Soooo… congrats on being a dad dude… and thanks for at least respecting my sister and my family."

"Don't mention it…" Lincoln tossed his empty bag in the nearby trash can, "Seriously, don't mention it. I don't want to hear my entire family breathing down my neck even more than usual because _you_ decided to tell Lori about it. You'll all get to meet my child and their mother, one day."

"Alright, alright! I won't tell Lori a single thing as honor of the bro-code," Bobby agreed, surprised by the sudden burst of hostility. Silence took over again.

"You said you needed a job, right? Well, since you respected my sister and took great care of her for these few years, I'll pay you back. A friend of mine works at a pet shop a couple miles from here. How about I call it an early day and take you to meet him?" Bobby offered, more than happy to take a sick day. At times like this he was glad to be sitting well with most of his bosses.

"Really?! Bobby, thank you so much!" the overjoyed Lincoln hugged his older friend. Words could not express the intense rise of glee he felt.

"But you have to make up with Lori later. Seriously, she's torn apart over what you said," Bobby added what he wanted in trade. Lincoln nodded, more than glad to do that. He was just more surprised at how upset Lori sounded by his description.

"I already planned on doing that, but alright! Come on, let's go get Clyde and head right over," Lincoln agreed. Bobby smiled, ready to head over to the pet store, hoping his friend would pull him in this favor. Lincoln was glad his day was going great, and he hoped the mother of his child was doing alright as well.

* * *

At the Recardia Record Company, things were not exactly going well for Luna or Leni. They had been brought into a rather big empty meeting room that had a giant table large enough to have twenty people gathered around it. The two had been here for an hour and a half now with only occasionally apologetic visits from the assistant who saw them into here in the first place.

"I know I said I wanted to get here early, but we got here with ten minutes before MY meeting. So where is this new boss dude?" Luna impatiently tapped her left hands fingers along the table.

"Maybe we should just go?" Leni offered. If this new boss of the record label was too busy today for a meeting, she thought they could reschedule for another day.

"I'd rather not walk out on this…" the rock aspiring girl held her head, not sure what would happen if they left before the meeting, that was when they heard the door knob rattle.

"Hello there! Sorry if I kept you waiting," an older energetic voice sounded. The door opening fast, there they saw a man in his early sixties in a black suit with a blue undershirt. He had a large bandage on the side of his head.

"Where've you been?" Luna stared at the elder.

"I was at tennis practice, but my opponent let their racket slip and I got knocked out for a while. It's normal if you're me," the old man coughed, not feeling too proud for his racket magnet of a skull.

"That sounds more like a sore loser…" Leni muttered, not wanting to distract the meeting any longer.

"So," the elder took a seat across from them, "As you're aware, my name is Recardia Smith Senior, and I'm going to guess you're more than already acquainted with the former owner of this record label, Recardia Smith Junior."

"More than you know," Luna nodded. The old man chuckled.

"No, no… I believe I know more than YOU know… I gave my son ownership of this company because I believed he would be out for the same thing I was, which was to make those with the passion for music be able to share their passion with the rest of the world. Thankfully our decade long loyal worker sent me some of the newer music over E-mail, and… well, let's just say, disown is too light of a word to use for this situation," Recardia huffed. Whatever happened to his son was far beyond his care.

"You were sent those songs that sounded like they were made underwater for the young?" Leni questioned. She had trouble keeping up her pregnant sister.

"Precisely. It's terrible when music made with care is tainted into some atrocity to try and sell like hotcakes. Frankly, that's the only reason this meeting's happening, because your song, Miss Loud, was one of the few I heard both versions for," Recardia claimed. It was that secretary who granted them this second chance. Luna felt relieved. He really sounded like a sensible man with a more coherent mind than his son's.

"Your son left a pretty bad impression of your company. I don't know if I can really give you guys a second chance, especially with my newest album," Luna exclaimed. Leni wanted to chime in, but it was obvious that her sister was trying to get a little extra added to this deal, but Leni was not entirely comfortable knowing that she was preying on an elder's kindness.

"And I can't blame you. My son made a smudge on our reputation that we'll never be able to recover from," Recardia mused, "How about instead of me blindly offering you a contract, why don't we let the public decide if this is a good idea or not?"

"The public?" Luna chirped, not understanding entirely. If he wanted her to go play on the side of a street and ask people if they liked her music or not, then she was going to stand up and walk right out of this building after giving him another bump to his head.

"Yes. My offer is that we post three of your songs, of your choice of course, on our PulseTube account online, and the results on each one in a month will decide upon what I offer you in the contract. So do we have a deal?" Recardia extended his hand out. Luna looked to her older sister.

"It sounds pretty fair, Luna… I say do it if you really believe in your music. This will be a great test for it," Leni tried to give the most logical advice in her head.

"Alright… I'll do it," Luna showed a confident smile and shook a happy Recardia's hand.

"Excellent! We'll go upstairs to our recording room and let you get to work on choosing which songs. You can trust Charles, our editor. He's been here longer than I have," the record company owner reassured. Luna was more than eager to get started, Leni clapped in joy that things were working out for the better. Luna allowed confidence to take over now that her happiness defeated her stress in mere moments. She hoped it would stay that way.

 _ **"I can't wait to tell everyone about this!"**_


	9. Found Out

"I never expected my first job to be a pet store assistant… But a job's a job, and money's money," Lincoln was in the Midnight Woof Woof. Horrible name, but decent business that offered a wide variety of animals, but the animal store was mostly known for its giant selection of dog breeds, that all were supposedly well trained and behaved.

"I think you got a sweet deal. You're really great with animals," Clyde stated. His brotherly friend shrugged, not entirely sure about that comment. His family may have several pets, but the animals were very small and more or less easy to make content.

"I never really wanted an employee before, I figured I'd be able to handle this shop by myself… I was right for about five years," spoke a man that was Bobby's age with orange hair in a ponytail. He wore a green apron to keep dander off his body, it also had his shops logo of a happy dog in front of a full moon on the front.

"What happened?" Lincoln tilted his head, wondering what could have changed if nothing went wrong for so long. Then again he could not complain about such a giant coincidence happening that gave him an opening for a job, even if it was through a friend.

"Jaikun has a few little talents, he's able to teach even the thickest of skulls how to take care of animals greatly, but on top of that, he's able to turn any type of animal into a perfect pet. Because of that, animal rescue workers let him help with rehabilitation and finding housing for some animals," Bobby pointed a thumb to him. The Santiago boy had tried working here for a short period of time, but sadly, animals were not his specialty. After the third bite to his leg, he decided the job was not cut out for him.

"Bobby! You make it out to be like I'm one of those crazy animal talkers. I'm just an innocent and laid back idiot. The animals know they can trust me," Jaikun retorted, slightly embarrassed at the praise. He lifted up the left side of his shirt slightly to show a very nasty scar.

"Whoa!" Lincoln gasped, "What caused that?!"

"Dude, you look like you got mauled by a bear!" Clyde gawked.

"You're right about the mauling, except it was a dog," Jaikun sighed, sounding disappointed in himself more than anything, "They found a group of dogs that had been raised strictly since birth to fight in underground dog fights. It was really horrible, I tell you. I was able to help all of them, but one, his name was Big Ben. He had his teeth filed down to be sharper and his collar was embedded in his neck because it never got adjusted since he was first born. The veterinarian helped stop the pain, and make him so much more comfortable. He looked like a whole new dog."

"And he did this?" Clyde shivered.

"Yep… In a trust session where I go into a large cage with the dog for a few hours, he attacked me. I know it sounds stupid, but its either you go all out, or the animal will never trust you at all. I really couldn't figure out what happened. It took me a month to heal, and the only reason I'm not in the pet cemetery myself, was because a few big guys leaving the gym down the block heard my screaming and caved in the door."

"I wouldn't be able to be alone with a dog ever again if something like THAT happened to me…" Lincoln muttered. At times like this he was glad Charles was so small that he could not do much harm to anyone.

"And I don't think I'd be sane if I was going to be a father at your age… Bobby wasn't kidding. Everyone he knows is really weird," Jaikun laughed. Bobby rolled his eyes and bopped the top of his friend's head lightly with his closed hand to stop his chuckling.

"You included, Jaikun. Back on subject, thanks for helping out my bro here when he needs it," Bobby was happier to be of use as long as it made the Loud family better off, especially if he was able to help Lori and Lincoln mend their relationship in trade.

"You have no idea how thankful I am. I'll work my best for you, Jaikun," Lincoln promised. His new boss seemed more than happy to hear that. Considering the teenage boy could handle ten siblings, taking care of a store full of animals should not be much different.

"Alright. I'll give ya the rundown tomorrow. It's about closing time anyway," Jaikun pulled out a similar uniform of an apron for him. It was on the big side, but it would fit his new part time employee nonetheless.

"Wow… time flies when you're trying to job hunt," Clyde was surprised to see the sunset out of the window, though he was happy to know this job hunt only spanned the search of today thanks to their amazing luck.

"I'm looking forward to working with you. Thanks again for everything, you guys," Lincoln gave a slight bow to his friends. He would not be able to find any work without them, though he knew that he needed to get home. Otherwise he would be stuck with the cold leftovers of leftovers.

"Anytime and anything for you and Lori. I'll bum around a while with Jaikun. You take care, Lincoln," Bobby bid him goodbye. Jaikun more focused on taking care of the animals so they would be comfortable for the night.

"Thanks again! See ya later," Lincoln headed off out the door with a smile on his face, Clyde following shortly behind to the sidewalk. They watched the two as they were leaving.

"So… a fifteen year old that's a dad? Can't say it's the first time I've heard about it, but it sure is the first time I've seen someone at all be happy to be a parent right off the bat… Makes me wonder if the moms a deadbeat or the kids an accident?" Jaikun did not know how to feel about this. Lincoln's powerful desire for responsibility impressed him, but he seemed like a normal teenager with no other problems that led him down this accidental path of life.

"I have no idea who the mother is… heh. Y'know… it's funny. He's going to be a dad and his older sister's pregnant," Bobby stifled his laughter at the coincidence. Jaikun snapped his head toward his friend's direction, staring in a little surprise.

"Really? They must have a good family…" the animal lover replied while stroking an energetic husky's head. He tried to brush off his suspicions. With a family as big as the Loud family, anything was possible, including coincidences.

"Bobby, when did snow hair there dump your sister?"

The Santiago boy thought on this for a moment, not sure why this mattered. "About three months ago. I should've seen the break up coming. They practically spent two months apart before that because Lincoln was 'sick', when he was actually depressed."

"And what about his sister? How long until she's due?"

"Uhhh… I'm going to have to say three to four months… maybeeeee…" Bobby suddenly went wide eyed in terror as the dots in his head aligned.

"Jaikun…?"

"Yeah?"

"You're not seriously thinking that Lincoln and his sister are…?" Bobby did not know the whole story behind Luna's pregnancy, but the alignment of both Louds becoming parents was too giant to not see. Lincoln was keeping the mother of his child secret, and Luna claimed to not know who the father was due to carelessness with alcohol consumption at a party.

"Well, dogs won't hesitate to become _'active'_ with their family members… Wouldn't be the first or the last time it's happened, either," Jaikun gave his perspective on matters. It was either nothing but a mere coincidence, or a deep dark secret that they had uncovered. Bobby whipped out his cellphone to call Lori, but he stopped himself briefly, not sure what to do.

"I need to at least tell Lori something… I know I made a bro promise, but there's a limit to how far the bro code of honor deal can go," the Santiago boy felt bad to do this to Lincoln, but he could not leave his longtime girlfriend hanging without a drop of information. It pretty much proved why Lincoln exploded like he did.

"I'll deal with Lincoln's anger, because his isn't **NEARLY** as bad as Lori's."

* * *

Normal chaos brewed at the Loud house, minus the few Louds absent at the moment. Luan was in the younger Louds shared room, seated at a desk beside Lisa in front of her laptop.

"Thanks again for letting me upload my video on your computer, Lisa. I still can't get my monitor to work," the comedian currently waited for her video to upload to PulseTube. She was popular on there for her pranks. It was how she was known at all in Royal Woods.

"Apologies for being slow about repairing it as well. I've had my attention grabbed by a lot of other matters recently," Lisa apologized. Normally being the one genius that everyone went to when they needed help with electronics, she figured she at least could let her older sister use her laptop since she had been so slow to help repair the normal computer she used.

" _Lisa!_ I need help!" Lola cried from the doorway. They both looked to her. Her once beautiful golden blonde hair was now dyed a dark purple, and she had a few new bruises and scrapes all over her body.

"Oh my gosh! That is just so perfect! Bahahha," Luan could not withhold her laughter at seeing one of her third youngest sisters like this.

"Lana made another dye bomb and hit me with it!" Lola growled aloud, the two having wrapped up the fight over it already.

"I told you to not come around me while I'm practicing extreme high stakes juggling!" Lana called out from the hall. Luan was able to calm herself down as she watched Lisa go grab a small case from under her desk.

"Don't worry," Lisa assured, "After last time, I prepared an easier method of removing dye, beyond painful hours of scrubbing."

Lisa then turned to the comedian. "Luan, when the video finishes uploading, please shut down my computer. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Righty-o!" Luan nodded and watched the two younger Louds head off to get the dye mess cleaned up. Thankfully messes that chaotic were normal for their family. As long as they could clean it up, their parents did not really mind it.

"Oh dang it, I've got to find the thumbnail image again," Luan realized. The video could not be fully uploaded without everything, or else she would have to waste more time waiting for the video to allow the edits to be saved after uploading.

"It's somewhere on here I just need to remember where I saved it… " she began to click around blindly through the many files that Lisa had saved on this tiny laptop. So far she could not find heads or tails of the image. However, two files that were password locked caught her attention.

" _Fanfiction_ … **ugh** … Important research documents?" Luan shuddered in fear of the first folder, **_Fanfiction_**. But she was curious about the second folder, Important Research Documents. It wouldn't hurt her to take one small peek, she thought.

"What kind of password would Lisa use…? Something so stupid that it's smart because people would expect something smart from her," she tapped her chin, trying to think. A light bulb went off in her head, and after a second of typing, the file permitted her access.

"Yep. It was her birthday. Even a super genius has to keep things simple enough to remember," Luan looked over the folder. It was full of written reports pictures and a lot more videos than she expected from this one small location on the computer.

"Hm… Mating that began observation experiment 511. What's that about?" Luan conveniently found that very video, and opened it.

"Is that Lincoln and Luna?" She tilted her head when the video played. At the start, it showed Lincoln attempting to console an upset Luna with everything he could think of. The stand-up comedian noted that the video had been recorded at the same date when Luna's first attempt at the record deal fell apart.

"Aww… Lincy and Luna look so cute," Luan watched the two on the video as they hugged. It was hard not to find Lincoln cute when he was trying to make others happy. It was just another similarity Lily adopted from him.

"What the-!? What in the name of clowns?!" Luan gasped. In the few moments she was distracted. Things escalated quickly in the video, as the siblings deeply kissed, before falling onto the bed. The comedian could only sit there, slack jawed with her eyes peeled open.

"This is heart aching."

Luan jumped slightly at the voice that scared her. She saw Lucy standing there, once again having come out of nowhere. Neither really knew what to say. The gothic girl was somehow keeping a straight face about this, not letting on how really upset she was at the sight of their siblings having sex on the video.

"Guess this situation's getting **'incest'** … yeah… I'm ashamed of myself for making the joke, too…" Luan, now that she forced this out of her mouth, stood up from her seat. She had a question in her head that she needed to go ask Lisa, immediately. Lucy deciding to follow behind, but only after downloading a copy of the video for herself from the computer.

 ** _"Tonight is going to be another nightmare."_**


	10. Anger

**Authors note: Soooo...The fic made it onto TvTropes, wow. I don't know what to say, but thanks a lot. That's pretty awesome, thanks for all the support, and the 15,000 views everyone. And I am very sorry if this chapter is horrible, me and my two proofreaders had a large back and forth between us all, and couldn't really decide on a lot of things. This is Fallen pens, dropping out.**

"Ow! I thought you said it'd be easier to get out!" Lola whined, feeling her hair get tugged. Lisa stood on a stool while her slightly older sister had her head in the sink with the water running against her hair.

"And we're already nearly complete, but sadly the quick way is the painful way. Apologies," Lisa adjusted her glasses before returning to the hair dye removal. Why Lana, the sister who loved getting messy, used homemade dye bombs for some of her games was beyond Lisa's comprehension.

"Lisa!" Luan came rushing into the kitchen, Lucy following right behind her.

"Hm? Yes, Luan, is something wrong? If my computer shut off suddenly, it most likely had its safety mechanism triggered by a small power surge again," Lisa explained, expecting things to get more complicatedly chaotic for the Loud house.

"No, not that. I don't even care about THAT video anymore. Lucy and I saw a 'special' video you had saved away in your computer," Luan replied, not sure how to start. There was no calm way to approach this, but going full out demanding an aggressive was not her style and seemed unfitting for the situation at hand.

"Alright, I'll confess…" Lisa huffed, "I used a growth formula on the plants to see if they'd react any differently from one another, but it should not alter results whatsoever…"

"No no no no! Not that video," Luan was too afraid to say the exact words.

"The video of Lincoln and Luna having sex," Lucy flatly broke the ice. Luan face palmed, wondering how the gothic was able to be so tactless about matters. Lisa got knocked down when a shocked Lola leaped up from her hair washing session.

"WHAT?!" the beauty lover was in awe at the news. Luan really wished their gothic sibling had withheld the information for this exact reason. Now things were going to spread like wildfire, as usual for the Loud house.

"Well… I certainly won't judge you for watching it, but I am upset at the invasion of not just my privacy, but also our siblings'," Lisa adjusted her glasses after getting up, and began to dry off her hands now that she had finished cleaning the dye off Lola's hair.

"Lincoln and Luna were doing 'it'? Does that mean… Ohhhh god, _my prince!_ " Lola was overwhelmed. Lucy nodded, her dark heart feeling just as equally torn up inside. It was not too shocking that Lola knew what the comedic Loud was talking about.

"Lola, you need to calm that anger down or else you might get an even 'shorter' fuse," Luan tried, and failed to lighten up the mood. nobody even gave a groan. Lola and Lucy seemed too upset to think about it.

"So can you tell us what's going on, please? I'm kinda scared what will happen when Lori finds out," Luan stated. Once one Loud found out a secret, it tended to spread throughout to the others like a hideous disease. they did not even want to imagine how the practical second mother figure to the family would react.

"You don't need to worry. Judging by Lola's daze from the shock, Lucy's depression from heartbreak, and your rather shockingly calm reaction, I doubt there is anything whatsoever to fear," Lisa reassured, trying to sidestep the situation entirely. She did not feel too confident in answering questions meant for Lincoln and Luna.

 **"THEY'RE WHAT?!"** The house shook. It was definitely Lori's voice.

"Meep," Luan bit her lip in fear.

"Well. It appears the news spread faster than anticipated. At least we're not alone to face her anger," the child prodigy claimed, considering the aftermath of the eruption about to transpire. They could hear the door upstairs be forced open.

"That's about as accurate as a broken bullseye… Because we're the only ones that have to grab the bull by the horns in this situation," Luan retorted. Surely enough, Lucy had vanished, most likely into the air vents, and Lola had gone off to hide in another room.

"Oh, critical plutonium…" Lisa took her glasses off her face and began rubbing her eyes in frustration, Luan could hear Lori's stomps down the staircase.

" **Lincoln! Luna!** Where are you?!" Lori stormed into the kitchen to find the half terrified younger sisters of hers.

"They're still out. Uhh… I-is everything okay Lori?" Luan nervously greeted. Everyone heard about that fight upstairs from earlier today. The walls were thin enough for them to hear the commotion through them.

"No! Everything's **NOT** okay! Bobby just called me and told me who the father for Luna's baby is!" Lori exclaimed, seeming to have her rage mostly from the aftermath of her sobbing.

"Really? My, how fascinating… Well, I must return to my research. I'll be more than happy to hear about this later, preferably when things have calmed down." Lisa tried to leave, but sadly she had no escape. Not unless she wanted to dive out the kitchen window.

"We know, too…" Luan murmured fearfully.

"How long have you two known?" Lori glared hard. She was not letting them go anywhere until she got some answers. Clearly being furious at the fact this was going on behind her back.

"I just found out today," the comedian answered.

"Too long, evidently," Lisa avoided directly answering. Their parents were luckily not going to be back from work for another few hours. Otherwise things would be far worse.

"I can't believe it. He didn't care that I was getting on Luna's case because of her choices! He was only mad at me because she's having his baby!" Lori still could not say that without having a half second blank out in her brain from merely imagining it.

"Don't you think you're jumping the baby carriage here?" the comedian could not resist making the joke.

"She is correct. This is all a bit presumptuous," the young genius saw the opening to try and relieve the situation, and she was willing to take it like it was an open door to escape from a burning building.

"What are you two talking about? And no science talk," Lori could not tolerate anymore beating around the bush. Luan left it to their little sister to save them both from the rage of Lori.

"Lori, just consider this. There is a chance for Lincoln to be the father, indeed. _BUT_ , you must take into account that he could be nothing more than another mere mating partner of Luna's. They could have used protection as well. There are too many possibilities to go after them so blindly, and _IF_ you are wrong, all you will have done is made Lincoln and Luna despise you further by alienating them," Lisa elaborated to the best of her ability. To say she was lying was an understatement. Her words though seemed to ring deep in their oldest sister's mind. The mere thought of having any of their siblings, especially Lincoln, hating her was a depressing thing to imagine.

"So… what?" Lori growled, "You want to pretend that it never happened? What if they _'do it'_ regularly?"

"I miss when the most I had to worry about was the neighborhood raccoons sneaking into the basement…" Luan exhaled. How things could calm down and escalate at the same time in other regards was beyond her.

"There, there, Luan… Ah-hem! As I was saying… we should not ignore it, but we should also not explode the situation. Quite frankly, we aren't going to really know who the father is until that baby is born," Lisa surmised, her hair covering up the sweat beads breaking out on her forehead.

"She can just get a paternity test," the oldest Loud claimed, "She's definitely far enough along for it."

"She is, but the problem with prenatal testing, is that the invasive method runs a risk of causing a miscarriage, and the non-invasive way doesn't guarantee full accuracy. We must face the fact, Lori, that the most we can do is consult them and wait until the child is born," Lisa finished panting slightly from this entire talk, feeling ready to faint on the spot. Working under stress was no specialty of hers, and it was another reason why she loved science since it rarely demanded full attention.

"…fine… tell me when they get home. We're having a family meeting, without mom and dad," Lori declared. She was old enough to do so, and if they disagreed, she would surely tell their parents.

"Okay, we will. You don't have to worry, 'mom'," Luan joked. Lori silently headed out the kitchen to try and cool down. After a moment of silence, Luan hugged her brainiac sister for saving them.

"Wow, Lisa! You really are good in this type of trouble! I didn't even know about half of that stuff!"

"Yes, well… Don't take most of it into account. 70% of what I said was false… Now if you'll excuse me, I need a nap," Lisa, after making that reply, left the kitchen, not caring for the dye removal gear left messily on the kitchen counter. Unfortunately this gave Luan an idea.

"I know! This stuff is good for removing dye, but I can make dye with it... I know how to make everyone feel better," Luan gained a bright smile, though she had a bad feeling that almost nobody would be feeling good after tonight. She was hoping that maybe this would be the way to fix the inevitable aftermath.

"Lincoln's the daddy and Luna's the mommy?" Lily had been secretly peeking in from the side of the back door. She glared, while wondering to herself. She was not too happy with Lori's actions either. If their eldest sister was going to upset Lincoln and Luna further today, the two Lily herself loved the most out of their whole family, she was going to make sure Lori would regret upsetting them. The youngest Loud began to ponder a plan.

"Lily is going to be a good aunt! …What will make Lori more upset if she's mean to them…? …oh, I know!"

* * *

"Today went pretty well. Nothing could really sour my mood now," a happy Lincoln approached his home, where he noticed Leni and Luna standing on the porch, both in a conversation, seeming just as happy as him.

"Lincoln! You won't believe it!" Luna excitedly greeted, hugging him tightly before she could let him reply.

"Won't believe what? Did Charles find a box of antique coins in the backyard again?" Lincoln blindly guessed. Luna laughed at that innocent reply.

"No! The Recardia Record Label made a deal with her! They're going to upload Luna's videos online, and she'll get a better contract if they do great!" Leni eagerly exclaimed. The two had barely gotten home a few minutes before he arrived.

"Really? That's great! I think… But yeah! I've got great news, too! I got a part time job at a pet shop not too far into town," Lincoln was still not sure how to feel about this second record deal, but if Luna was certain this was not an underhanded trick by the company, he would fully support it.

"That's awesome, dude! I owe you a lot, too. I'd never be here if you hadn't given me my confidence, little bro. You're the best," Luna claimed. Lincoln gladly returned the hug for her, Leni deciding to join in as well.

"Oh, hey! You guys are home! You have some really good timing," they heard Lynn, who stood at the doorway. She had come to take the trash to the garbage cans when she saw them.

"Hey Lynn," Lincoln greeted as he ended the group hug between him Luna and Leni, "what's going on?"

"Lori wanted to have a family meeting. Lola and Lucy are acting kind of weirder than normal too," Lynn shrugged, not entirely sure what the meeting was about.

"A family meeting? But mom and dad aren't home yet," Leni could not see their parents' car in the driveway. Lynn looked as equally perplexed as them. It was a safe guess that this meeting might be about their parents, a fact that worried them all.

"Well, go round everyone up! We've got great news," Luna grinned as they all stepped into the home, more than eager for this meeting so she and Lincoln could announce what they had accomplished today that made things look up for them.

"Alright!" Leni agreed, going off with Lynn to help gather everybody into the living room. Lincoln noticed a disturbing lack of noise in the house. It was a terrible sign to him.

"Uh, Luna?" Lincoln coughed, grabbing her attention, "I'm not saying we should be worried, but I'm just saying whatever happens, we should take it easy."

"Hah! Don't worry about me, bro. It's not like this meetings about us," Luna insisted. That was what he always told her, not that she really could control her personal stress that well. They soon noticed Lori at the bottom of the stairs, having come down during their momentary distraction.

"You're both in trouble. _**BIG**_ trouble."


	11. Lying Truth?

**Authors note: You guys are awesome, I'm grateful for the 100 reviews and near 100 followers/favorites. I really got no clue what else I can say, other than I'm sorry for letting you down with these chapters. This is fallen pens, dropping out.**

Nearly all of the Loud family was gathered in the living room. Their parents were absent, like Lori had insisted, and they did not bring Lily along to the meeting because it was inappropriate for someone as young and innocent as her to be hearing about this. Lincoln gave Lily his old GameJoy and let her go upstairs to loot his case full of games to play. Even after all that was settled and everyone was rounded up, things were silent.

"So… uh… do you wanna hear the good news?" The teenage boy offered in effort to break the ice. It was blatantly clear that Lori had spent the day snapping between angry, sad and angry again, and this alone had drained her. Whether or not she was mentally all there currently, was still unknown.

"Huh? Oh… go ahead," Lola sighed with nothing but hurt in her tone, her head resting on the couch arm rest. Lana poked her twin's shoulder, unsure why her twin was so depressed.

"I got a decent paying job at a pet store thanks to Bobby. It's only part time, but the place seems great! They mostly handle dogs!" Lincoln announced. The news gained a light round of applause from half of their family. Nobody knew why he was interested in having a job at all, but that did not stop it from being great news to them.

"And I got a deal going on with the record label. If my songs do good online, it'll decide how good my contract'll be," Luna added, wondering why she sensed a hateful gaze coming from Lola and Lucy, even if she could not see the gothic Loud's eyes.

"Woo! Your hard work's finally paid off! Even if it took a few extra months," Lana went over and gave her a big hug. Luna happily returned the embrace, even if her decently sized stomach made it harder to get a moderate hug in.

"So what's this meeting about? If we cut out anymore family members, we'll be known as the 'Secret' family instead of the 'Loud' family," Luan decided to feign knowledge of the true motive of the meeting and tried to get a good joke in to make everyone relax. Only Lincoln laughed a little, and the rest just groaned.

"Yeah… I don't really know if I like having a family meeting without everybody," Lynn nodded. The only times they had family meetings without certain members was when it was about that specific member, and even then it was never ever more than one person, they had a rule in the house to tell the reasons for most meetings, unless it was for surprise announcements more than anything.

"I thought it was about me making dye-bombs again," Lana said, somewhat relieved that it was not about her.

"I was hoping we were going to just be planning the baby shower…" Leni confessed meekly. Nobody had really begun the plans for that. They did not know if their pregnant sister would want one such celebration. Even Lincoln and Luna knew this meeting was about them after Lori's cold welcome home. They did not want to break composure too much, but they did not want to be the ones leading the meeting either.

"Let's quit lying since _**SOME**_ of us already know… Or at least **_MOST_** of us now know, we may as well go and say it," the oldest Loud cleared her throat, "This family meeting is about Lincoln and Luna… They've been having sex."

Lynn and Lana had no clue how to react. Everyone else seemed to be faking their surprise or not reacting at all. It did nothing to quell the oldest Louds growing anger since it showed how many knew about this.

"Is… Is this true?" Lynn questioned the two. She looked equally, if not even more hurt than Lucy and Lola. Lincoln chimed in before his sisterly lover could.

"Yeah, and no… We've _HAD_ sex, but it was only the one time," Lincoln answered. He did not like how Lori was describing what they did. She acted like it was a routine. But he could not blame her for assuming so.

"Welcome to the Shattered Hearts Club," Lucy told Lynn, who held her head trying to absorb this information. She felt like she had been hit in the chest by a softball again.

"How'd you figure it out? Only Lisa and Leni knew," Luna asked. Lincoln was wondering why three of his sisters looked so upset, but decided to not inquire. He would worry about cheering them up later.

"Bobby called and told me what Lincoln had said. Apparently Lincoln told him that he was going to be a dad, and the timing matched up with when Luna got knocked up," Lori explained, almost like she was playing judge. Perhaps her being the assistant of one for a job had a large hand in that.

"That's why you wanted to get a job so suddenly?" Lana commented, not sure how to feel about this. She loved her siblings too much to really care for what they did. They were happy, so she was too.

"Guess that explains the yelling this morning, too," Luan nodded, they nearly all had heard that fight after all.

"Well it is a scientific fact that most will protect their offspring if they feel they are threatened. That applies to animals and humans," Lisa was cleaning her glasses. The nap she took after the long talk with Lori had failed to help her relax, if anything it made her even more tense.

"I told you, I don't know who the dad is!" Luna repeated. Lincoln tried to not show his inner pain at still having to deny the claims of his fatherhood.

"Luna, you need to calm down. You've barely been off your feet today…" Leni insisted, too afraid to speak up otherwise while motioning her to sit back down. They had been busy working at the record label to help get the videos all uploaded online, the paranoia of a second backstabbing from the music company made Luna stay on top of everything, and rarely get any rest.

"How do you know, though?" Lola asked the pregnant Loud, seeing her bite her lip.

"You didn't go to a party after all, if that video is right. I'd ask my dark lords for help finding the truth, but my heart is in too much turmoil," Lucy claimed. Seeing that video of the two having sex had defeated the drunken party alibi Luna had established.

"Look. It's complicated what happened between us. I pushed Luna into doing something she didn't want to do. When I was trying to cheer her up… I took advantage of her," Lincoln apologetically said. He felt Luna's piercing glare on him instantly. They had talked that out so long ago, that it was upsetting to hear that he still felt guilty for the act. She focused back on the meeting. Lori was just listening to the back and forths while trying to keep her anger in check.

"No, you guys. Us having sex is on me… but hear me out; Lincoln isn't the dad. I'll just say it, I had sex with three people in that same week, and Lincoln was the last… That's what you want to hear, right Lori? That I'm just some careless bimbo who doesn't know what I'm doing?" Luna questioned while giving the same lie. Her upset tone made it believable. She was just taking a shot at Lori to top things off, considering how the oldest Loud had treated her recently, it sure came off that way.

"I don't ever want to hear that!" Lori hated having words put into her mouth, even after their argument today, "But I also don't want to hear about my own brother and sister having sex! What if Lincoln _IS_ the dad?! What do we do then? Especially when mom and dad find out! They're going to have your heads for this!"

"Why do you think I broke up with Ronnie Anne? Because what I did was inexcusable. Now I need to rise to this mistake. Whether I'm the dad or not, I'm going to help Luna," Lincoln returned his own gaze to his oldest sister. Their glares looked ready to spark a fire at any second.

"That is pretty nice to do… Wait you were with Ronnie Anne?!" Lynn was shocked with the rest. She had fought with the Santiago girl on several occasions over the years, some of which were physical, but on the rare occasion it would be nothing thanks to Lincoln intervening.

"I knew I didn't like her," Lola grumbled with her arms crossed, as if she could not feel any worse at the moment.

"So what's the point of this meeting?" Lisa argued, "We have the evidence laid out and presented to us and it seems to once again come down to being unable to do anything, short of waiting to see when the child is born." She was growing quite sick of playing a glorified game of he said she said, it was nothing short of annoying.

"There's just too many coincidences. That's why I believe what bobby said," Lori retorted. The family still seemed split down the middle of the anarchy on this matter.

"Wouldn't you say that no matter what though, since he's your boyfriend?" Leni asked, unintentionally countering her older sister's argument.

"She is right… You could just be trying to get Lincoln in trouble because of the fight this morning for protecting Luna," Lana added. There was something suspicious about their oldest sister going on here.

"What?! If I wanted to get him in trouble, I'd just go straight to mom and dad! That's what I have to ask right now! Should we tell them? Just answer, and quit trying to spin this like it's a conspiracy theory!" Lori demanded votes to be taken. Whichever decision got the most votes won. If the Loud parents found out this news, the chaos would continue, or worse off, increase. The oldest sibling would be believed a lot more likely than everyone else due to her age.

"I'm tired of all the drama… I vote that we don't tell them," Leni may not be able to keep up with everyone else's IQ, but she was on the same page as most of them.

"I concur, and insist on our secrecy. I have to take down far too many notes for my new research study after the exposure as is," Lisa agreed. Nobody but Luna knew of this secret observation study transpiring upon the whole family, Lincoln still was upset knowing that a video of him and Luna being 'active' was even around.

"And here I thought being sore from practice was going to be the biggest pain in my neck today... I think we should tell mom and dad so things can calm down faster," Lynn nodded while rubbing her upper arm nervously.

"I say tell! I'm tired of not being noticed… especially by my prince," Lola's voice trailed off at the end. Her attention seeking side drove her opinion, but only half of it. Lincoln quirked an eyebrow, not sure who her prince even was.

"I just want to go back to everyone being happy. I vote that we don't tell," Luan, for one of the rarer moments of her life, stayed fully serious on her vote.

"Things would be less complicated if we just tell them. I don't even know any 'pure' boys I can get blood from now," Lucy said while trying to put her mind in another dark place, entirely worried for what would become of her rituals that she performed occasionally.

"We shouldn't say anything," Lana insisted, "It'd just get every one of us in trouble."

"I'm not saying a thing to them, and I think none of us should tell them at all. Mom and dad are getting too old to worry about everything," Lincoln exclaimed. Just like Luna, he did not want to stress out their aging parents. Though he could not deny that he was exaggerating when it came to their parents age, they were aging well all things considered.

"I'm voting we go back to our normal lives. I just want to get back to work on my next song," Luna shared the same vote with her practical spouse.

"And I vote we should tell them…" Lori let out a huff of frustration. One brief awkward silence later, Lisa reluctantly spoke up.

"It is quite apparent that the majority vote is for keeping quiet, and as such, we shall all agree to silence. I suggest we go back to treating each other like family instead of being paranoid with every little thing, and trying to attack each other over anything they can find," Lisa declared that silence was the route the siblings would take to avoid the trouble. They opted not to have Lily vote, because she was still the youngest of the family. There was no way she could make a vote regarding something as morbid as possible incest parenthood.

"So… can you and Luna get along now?" Lincoln requested from Lori. His oldest sister was too upset to even speak now. She hated having to keep this a secret and she hated herself even more for knowing the truth, yet somehow being judged as someone constantly trying to start trouble was even more upsetting.

"Linc, just give up on her… I'm not up to taking fake apologies right now. Today's a **GREAT** day, and nothing is going to ruin that," Luna declared with a bright smile. That comment did nothing but sting Lori like a blade in her heart. The oldest Loud stood up and began to leave for upstairs, wanting to go back to her room for an early bedtime.

"What you two did was unforgivable. I don't care if it's personal or not! If that baby is Lincoln's, all you'll have done is added a big problem to his life," Lori left the entire family downstairs on that note. Nobody gave her word a second thought. They assumed it was probably said in the heat of the moment and in blind anger. Lincoln especially did not care, he could handle any problem his life brought to him, and he planned to be proud of having a child.

"I know how to make everything better. Here's a joke for you all. What's loud, purple, and laughs a lot?" Luan questioned. No one was in the mood to answer, but they soon decided it might be best to play along to move on from the stressful meeting.

"I know! A spray painted hyena!" Leni confidently answered with a smile. As if the meeting that just happened was water off her back.

"A violent chemical reaction of laughing gas and helium?" Lisa scratched her head.

"One of Lola's tea parties?" Lana grinned, only to be tackled by her twin, barely five seconds after the meeting and the two were fighting. Luna groaned while quickly separating the twins.

"These two after a fight?" Luna jokingly replied while letting the spoiled tiara wearing Loud sit on her lap.

"A rare type of penguin?" Lincoln shrugged, scratching his white hair.

"My soul?" Lucy sighed.

"Me after an intense football game?" Lynn laughed, seeming to be feeling better already.

"No! It's…" Luan pulled out a remote she borrowed from Lisa's room, and hit the button on the bottom of it. Her index finger pointed straight up to the ceiling fan. They all looked up, and quickly realized what was on top of the fan.

"Ohhhh yeah!" Lana grinned eagerly.

" _ **NO, NOT AGAIN!**_ " Lola cried.

"What the-?!" Lincoln held onto Luna, and vice versa. The dye bombs fell from the ceiling fans. Nobody could question why they didn't notice until now, and in seconds, the small section of the living room was covered in light purple dye.

Nothing but silence. Nobody could say anything. All of their hair was tainted purple. Only the family dog and cat were spared from the dye bombs.

"Pfft… Bahahahaha!" After the short time, Luna began laughing at Lincoln's change of hair color. It did not take long for everyone to slowly start laughing at everyones messed up hair around them. Lola however seemed partially torn apart knowing that she had to get the dye out of her hair again.

"Hoo, boy… Luan, this is great. Even if we have to clean the living room now," Lynn thanked the comedian for this. Luna smiled at how things were a lot more relaxed thanks to their comedic sister. Luan could only watch the outcome of his clever trick with a bright smile.

"It's a shame Lori left before this…" Leni said, wishing Lori could enjoy this joyous moment with them. Lisa was trying to clean her glasses lenses off while suppressing her own laughter.

"She'll be fine," Lincoln insisted, and exhaled after his laughter fully ended, "Look, let me just say I love you all and I'm sorry. It's my fault this meeting happened. All because of that one night…"

"Don't worry about it, dude."

"Yeah, Lincy!"

"We wouldn't really be a family if everything was perfect."

"People, nothing about our family is perfect."

"Well you know what they say. Practice makes perfect, and I'm just 'dyeing' to practice more!"

"Luan, don't push it…"

"Well, I call the first shower because I feel like passing out early tonight," Luna yawned and stretched, Lincoln going to her and helping her stand up.

"I'll help get the dye out, my hair can wait last," he insisted. She did not turn down his help. The rest of their siblings were already discussing how to clean the living room. Lincoln helped his rocking sister up the stairs. It was not that she needed it, but he wanted an excuse to talk to her alone.

"I hate that you keep blaming yourself for it all Lincoln…" Luna told him while they arrived to the bathroom, "You really have to stop doing that. It isn't healthy."

"I know… It's just how I feel, and I feel worse that you had to put up with this much from Lori," Lincoln sighed, "But here. Let me prove to you how dedicated I am to us."

"Huh? And how do you plan on doing that- mhhfph!" Luna felt his lips against hers. After a few seconds, she closed her eyes while gladly returning the passionate kiss, all the while watched secretly by the hidden youngest Loud.

"Lori treated them nice and they're happy… Maybe they can go on to be a good mommy and daddy now?" Lily thought to herself, not really caring for the right or wrong of the situation, but she was happy to know she did not need to go taking out revenge on Lori, judging by how happy Lincoln and Luna were, but the youngest Loud did not stop from keeping her plan in mind in case the oldest Loud did try to pull any stunts.

"Wow… Lincoln…" Luna panted for breath. Once the kiss ended, Lincoln was speechless, hoping that one kiss proved he had no plans on doing anything short of taking care of her and the baby.

"Yeah… Luna?"

"What is it, Lincoln?"

"I love you."

Luna's heart fluttered slightly. She gave the biggest smile he had seen from her in a good few months. Luna tried to keep the tears welling in her eyes held back as she kept the hug up with him.

 _"I love you, too… I love you even more than music."_


	12. No Rest

**Authors note: I just wanted to say thank you so much for the support, the fic clocked over 15,000 views and is nearly to 20,000. I know it's not much, but I worked hard and rewrote this chapter twice for you all, I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and I saw the new Loud House episode, I won't let it affect the fic too much, view the story however you want. This is Fallen pens, dropping out.**

It had been two months since that somewhat personal family meeting. Things had been rather calm, but an underlying tension between certain siblings remained. It all linked back to the oldest Loud sister, but thankfully it never erupted into more than an occasional awkward conversation.

"Damn it… I really miss the time when I didn't have to keep filing away the transcripts," Lori muttered while trying to organize several files to be put away in the correct storage. Back when she first started as a judicial assistant, they did not trust her with the transcripts immediately. It was a safety precaution all employees went through, just in case they or Lori were the type to leak everything to the public and give the media information for money. They trusted her now, but she could not help but see what was written down sometimes. Each one was a harsh reminder of home. All of the judges that she assisted were getting family cases to handle recently.

"You sound like you're wishing you were there to hear it all for yourself," Lori looked up from her desk to see a tanned black-haired woman twice her age.

"Ju-Judge Barrison! So-sorry ma'am, I got distracted," Lori apologized. Judge Maria Barrison was the big head of this small town courthouse, and the most renowned. She was known for how brutally blunt she was in trials, whereas outside of the courtroom, she was very kind. Criminals boiled her blood to no end.

"I've told you since you first started working here, that you can call me Maria. It's fine… I wanted to ask how you were doing, since you look ready to break down a lot lately," Maria claimed. She kept seeing Lori seated in that same business suit, ready to work while trying to hide her growing sorrow every day, yet for some reason she lost more and more confidence with each passing day.

"I'm having problems at home… There's just, too much going on and I can't do anything about it… I think all I've done is made my brother and one of my sisters hate my guts," Lori decided to confess. If there was one type of person she could trust with these kinds of personal talks, or at least someone that wasn't Bobby. It would definitely be a judge.

"I imagine a family that big would have some problems like that, but I doubt it's as bad as you make it out to be… You sure are one of the hardest workers around here, after all," Maria reminded her. Lori nodded, not able to deny her hard work. It took a few years of studying to even be eligible for this position. She intended to not let down one of her practical bosses.

"Thanks, Barri- I mean Maria… this is just a situation where no matter what I do, it'll only make things worse… I feel like I'm the only one who really cares," Lori couldn't describe it in full detail. The entire situation made it harder to inform Judge Barrison of everything, but by now, seeking an opinion was pointless.

"I'm sure everyone cares, but there is such a thing as trying too hard. I should know, because this morning a girl was trying hardest to feed me this sob story for why she was stealing a car again," the judge laughed. Recalling it alone was a good mood brightener to her day.

"What happened to her?" Lori was curious.

"It was the fourth time she's been caught trying to steal a car. She's really bad at it, too. I sent her off for a year in prison, since she seemed like nothing more than a kid that needed a harder punishment," Maria finished. Lori let out a half-hearted chuckle. The short story did little to brighten her mood. She imagined the judge had to put up with a lot of those people, that would try to give the saddest story they could muster to get lighter punishment.

"Hey, Lori!" Boots clacking against the tiled floor made Lori turn around in her chair. She was surprised to see an approaching Luna. She stood in a loose purple shirt that had a uniquely designed style pattern of tiny skull decals all over it, in a vertical line to try and look like a white stripe. Luna was not really able to wear anything else beyond it at this point. All her other clothes didn't fit right now, her stomach had grown to a rather large size surprisingly.

"Luna? What are you doing here?" Lori questioned, shocked that her younger sister just popped in unannounced, out of her own fruition.

"I'll get out of your way, Lori," Maria silently wished her good luck and made leave. Luna came over to the desk her older sister sat behind, with a bright smile.

"What am I doing here? We're going for lunch! I texted you saying I was coming, remember?" Luna asked, wondering if her text message either did not send or if her oldest sister was ignoring her.

"Oh… I forgot to charge my phone this morning," Lori murmured sheepishly. She had stayed up late talking to Bobby and that sucked its battery dry. Being in a rush to get to work on time did nothing to help. Even now, Lori could barely interact with Lincoln or Luna without feeling guilty, yet she could not entirely back down from her beliefs either.

"Well come on, lunch is on me," the rock lover eagerly insisted.

"I don't want you blowing your money on me," the oldest blonde Loud replied. The Recardia Record Label now officially had Luna as a musician in their contracts. The popularity of her videos online skyrocketed in that short time. The rock Loud was spreading through town faster than even she knew. It was obvious that her contract offer was worth it.

"Pfft, you act like I want anything other than junk food right now. Five bucks isn't much," Luna reassured, looking rather exhausted in one sense, "I walked all the way here for you too, y'know."

"Luna! You should be taking things easier, not harder! You're due in a month and a half," Lori scolded. The steadily popular rock star seemed to turn a deaf ear to this.

"Relax! I'm pregnant, not crippled. Come on, I know a good pizza place not far from here," Luna brushed it off, and the two left the building. Ever since her contract had been made and signed, the new rock musician's stress seemed completely cleaned up, with not one spot missed.

"Alright, but I'm calling a cab. I'm not letting you walk another step more than you need to," Lori picked up the phone on her desk. Luna rolled her eyes, deciding to agree on it. Most of the time she worked made things slightly more tiring, a lot more so than most people in town would be able to tolerate.

"I want to talk to you. That's kind of why I wanted to have lunch with ya… And before you say anything, this is all me deciding to do it and nobody else," Luna claimed. For some reason hearing the request for a personal one on one talk over lunch was worrying, but Lori was more than all ears, especially now that she sensed a rather gleeful aura from her sister instead of a hateful gaze, like the one she received every time they crossed paths usually.

"Alright, you don't have to be so dramatic…" Lori agreed, "I wanted to ask you about how your doctor's appointment went yesterday, too."

Luna flashed a big grin. "Oh, I'll tell you when we get food first. I feel like I haven't eaten in a week."

"You feel like that all the time now! I know you're eating for two, but that doesn't mean you have to eat for three just for the sake of it."

"What can I say? The little guy wants a lot to eat."

"Well… I guess I can't argue with someone who isn't even born _yet_ ," Lori joked. Just then they saw the taxi pulling up. Luna cheerily went along so they could go and have a hopefully peaceful lunch, though she had to wonder how her child's father was doing at work. She would try and call him again later, once she was done hanging out with Lori.

* * *

"Come on, stay still and it'll be over quicker," Lincoln stood in front of a short table, where a poodle that looked particularly unhappy sat. He was trying to trim the disobedient dog's nails, but he was too afraid that the dog would get hurt if he started trying to forcibly clip the nails off.

"He'll let you do it if you start giving him belly rubs," Jaikun advised as he put a tiny puppy into one of the small cages with the rest of his doggy family. Confused with a raised eyebrow, Lincoln reached down and began rubbing the poodle's belly. The then content dog fell down onto his side.

"Talk about a weird trick," Lincoln shrugged and continued with the nail trimming. He had been doing well since he first began working here. Things had been running a lot more smoothly over the time. His birthday had come and gone without much happenings, since Luna was his whole world at the moment. Lincoln thus barely paid his sixteenth birthday any mind, which upset a lot of his family even after he told them not to worry.

"Have things been alright at home? You look like you need another few hours of sleep," the pet store owner chimed up. His only employee looked cranky, but was doing a good job of fighting off the sleepiness.

"You're kind of right… I couldn't sleep much last night," Lincoln carried the dog to its small cage. Now that its nails were trimmed the dog could go back to being lazy.

"Why's that?" Jaikun asked. Lincoln looked a little sheepish to confess, but sighed. He saw no point in hiding it since there was nothing to be ashamed over

"My girlfriend spent the night with me, and while we were close together and she was asleep, I felt my… _Our_ baby kicking. I couldn't go to sleep, I wanted to feel her every eager movement. I could tell that she's really eager to get into the world," Lincoln explained, still believing the child would be a girl despite Luna's belief of the opposite. The pet shop owner patted his employee's head.

"Overwhelmed and kept awake by pride, huh? First time I've heard of that," Jaikun found it cute more than anything. Today was another slow day in the pet store, so most of the time during a slow day, the two talked while tending to the animals.

"Well, I'm excited… feeling her movement made me feel more alive than I ever have in my life… I just wish the doctor had been more comforting yesterday," Lincoln groaned, holding his head. He went to the nearby cabinets to get the food out to fill the dog bowls.

"Did the doc have bad news?" Jaikun already knew who the pregnant girlfriend was, being able to connect the dots helped a lot.

"Everything was looking great, but Luna's blood pressure was so high… They're thinking that she might start having problems if she doesn't start relaxing more," Lincoln shook his head. So far the unborn child seemed healthy and happy, but Lincoln seemed like the only person to listen to the doctor's advice, while Luna refused to take it easy. Her passion for music kept her going more than ever, especially since she had her contract with the Recardia Record Label forged.

"Is she relaxing more now?"

"Not really much. She's still working away like her life depends on it. We've fought a lot about her needing to rest. It basically goes full circle and I look like a hypocrite for what I say," the teenage boy claimed, since he worked long and hard for every precious dollar he earned, which went to his savings, it made him look dumb for telling someone to relax when he refused to do so himself. This job paid decently well, but he did not have a lifelong dream orientating around a pet shop career. He never really thought much of his future, until this drastic change of his life hit him.

"Better to be a worrying hypocrite than an emotionless rock. You two sound like a healthy couple. The worst types of relationships have no fights or arguments… because then you don't have discussions to find ways to balance your lives," the orange haired man claimed. His only employee did not know if that was true or not, but considering Lori and Bobby's relationship was of the lovey dovey variety, he guessed they might be an exception.

"I still regret agreeing to waiting until our kid's born to find out their gender," Lincoln groaned. For some reason all that agreement with Luna did was raise his eagerness. Or perhaps it was his anxiety. He was no longer able to really tell. It seemed like lately, anything his family did raised his anxiety.

"Hm?" They heard the sound of the bell ring for the store's entrance.

"Hey, welcome. Can I help you?" Jaikun greeted the customer. Lincoln took a peek, and he was shocked.

"Ronnie Anne?" the teenage boy approached his ex-girlfriend. The Santiago girl did not look too bright. She looked to be in her own practical internal turmoil, perhaps still recovering from the breakup herself.

"Oh…" Jaikun stared at Lincoln, "You two know each other?"

"Uh, yeah…" Lincoln nodded, not entirely sure if this was a coincidence or an intentional visit. "What brings you here, Ronnie Anne?"

"Bobby said maybe being around here would make me feel better. I think he's hoping to adopt a dog and is letting me pick," Ronnie Anne shrugged, her hands in her pockets. The teenage Loud shook his head in irritation. He knew bobby would pull this off. He already spilled his secret to Lori. Of course Ronnie Anne would probably know. Lincoln wanted to think of payback to the Santiago boy, but could not bother about it too much right now.

"Alright well… let me know if I can help with anything," Lincoln told his ex. Jaikun had already left to the backroom to avoid any fighting that he anticipated to break out.

"So… When's the baby due?" Ronnie Anne broke the ice. Her ex-boyfriend half expected this, but still felt unsure.

"In less than two months," Lincoln answered. The aura of excitement radiating from him was pretty obvious. Ronnie Anne sighed. She did not have the strength to bring herself to ask a question she so longed to ask of him.

"Congrats again… I-I'll just go," the Santiago girl weakly quivered those words past her lips before she left the pet shop. Lincoln watched her leave, wondering what that was all about. He assumed that either she was lying about the reason behind the visit or she couldn't control her anger upon seeing him at this minute.

"Well, back to trimming claws," Lincoln shrugged and he went on to continue the minor dog grooming.

* * *

Outside of the store, Ronnie Anne barely made it to the end of the block before she stopped herself. Thankfully for her, no one else was around to see her like this. The school bully hated having her weak side shown, but lately she did not have much of a strong side left.

"Ronnie Anne! How'd it go?" Clyde, of all people, approached her. He had been watching, trying to help her upon her request talk to Lincoln. He was worried about her when he saw her run away from the shop.

"How do you think it went?!" Ronnie Anne hissed, her eyes watering. Clyde was taken aback. She buried her face into her hands, while choking out a weak sob. "I choked… He's so much happier without me."

"What are you talking about?" Clyde patted her back. The two may not have the best relationship, but thanks to Lincoln, they were closer to friendship than before when they first met at least.

"It's all my fault, Clyde…" Ronnie Anne mused. She had spent most of the time blaming herself for their relationship falling through, "I drove him away with my anger and constant teasing. He cheated on me for a reason… I ruined us."

"Ronnie Anne, **stop this** ," Clyde gained her attention his anger quieting her cries, "You both can't keep thinking like this. He broke up with you to make **_YOU_** happy and take responsibility for what he did. It had nothing to do with what you are as a person. If anything, you're going to make him as miserable as you are if he sees you like this! You don't want that, do you?"

"Clyde…?" She muttered. Clyde had been tolerating her and trying to help her. Seeing her still upset like this was hurting him. It would frustrate him to see her cry about it for even longer, mainly because that was not who she was as a person whatsoever.

"You already told him how you felt when you two broke up, right? Going in there begging for him to get back together with you will do nothing."

Ronnie Anne stared to the ground. "I…I know..."

"Come on… Let's go back there so you can at least let him know you want to be friends," the African American boy offered his hand to her. Ronnie Anne nodded, wiping her eyes dry before giving him a hug, much to his surprise.

"Thanks, Clyde… You're a million times better than any therapist."

"Glad to be of service."

However, just when the two were walking back, before they could enter the store they saw Lincoln suddenly burst out of the store, nearly knocking them down.

"Whoa!" Clyde yelped, "Lincoln, what's going on!?"

"Lame-o! You nearly busted my arm there!"

"Sorry! Sorry! It's happening early!" Lincoln ran off. Jaikun peeked his head out the door.

"Guess he's calling it an early day," the pet store owner groaned.

"What's he in a hurry about?" Clyde questioned. He barely heard his best friend there in his hurried run.

"Huh? Oh… his baby's apparently on the way," Jaikun answered. The two's eyes widened.

"What?! But he said they weren't due for another two months!" Ronnie Anne retorted.

"Eh… Why do you think he's running to the hospital?" the orange haired man let the door close again as he went to handle the store. Ronnie Anne and Clyde were not sure what to think.

"Sh…should we follow him?" Ronnie Anne asked hesitantly.

"I'd say I don't want to mob him, but his family is going to do that no matter what, so…" Clyde sighed.

 **"So yeah. We'll follow him."**


	13. Afraid

**2 hours earlier...**

"Wow. This place is packed," Luna was seated at a table, Lori was across from her. The two never saw a pizza place get this crowded before, but that just seemed to give all the more reason to stick to ordering over the phone from now on.

"Guess everyone is in the mood for pizza for lunch," Lori brushed it off. The judicial assistant knew they were waiting for a while for their order to be filled, though they could still look forward to a warm pizza thankfully. Luna stretched and rubbed her back. Pains kept randomly happening in her body, they had been bothering her since the end of yesterday actually. She stopped after a short time when she heard her sister speak.

"So how did your doctor's appointment go yesterday?" the oldest Loud decided to start the conversation light, before they would skip to the point. She would rather get the tension and uncertainty aside to relieve the atmosphere slightly before they began eating and getting to the main topic of this conversation, so they could enjoy their meal.

"Huh? Oh, it could've been better... Finding out you're having three things to take care of instead of one is a lot to take in," Luna responded. Her older sister blinked in surprise. The few seconds of surprise passed as her expression changed to one of unamusement.

"Real funny," Lori spoke, "I know you and Luan have your names mixed up sometimes, but that doesn't mean you have to act like one another."

"Can't blame me for trying," Luna shrugged and chuckled, not finding it a problem to give a joke every now and then. But she was aware her oldest sister wanted to hear about the real results of the doctor's visit. Every visit to the doctor made Lincoln, Lori and several members of their family anxious, even Lisa whose reason for her anxiety was only known by Luna.

"They said I'm looking great, but they were really worried about my blood pressure. It was pretty high. They think it's because I'm not relaxing enough," Luna confessed. There were so many things that could cause high blood pressure. Being pregnant alone raised it and put more stress on her body as is, not resting did nothing to help.

"I take it you haven't listened to their orders," Lori groaned. Considering her younger sister walked all the way to invite her out to eat lunch together, she knew she would be right on this.

"Hey! I'm taking it easy all the time!" the rock lover claimed, "I even get to sleep in a little while, thanks to my job."

"Luna, when you're taking it easy, what do you do?" Lori requested. Her tone made it come off as rhetorical, but at the same time calm.

"I write music and sing a lot," Luna answered. There was a lot more, but if she had to describe what she loved to do, specifically when relaxing, it was singing and playing her guitar. It was also pleasant to play with Lily and spend time with their entire family, too.

"And what do you do at work?"

"I... write music and sing...?"

"...Luna. You have to realize that what you do to relax might not be as relaxing for your body as it is for your mind. Sleeping isn't going to get you far. Trust me, I should know," Lori exclaimed. Her younger sibling scratched her head having not really thought about that. Honestly, being pregnant Luna felt terrible all the time, in a sense that there was either always a craving for certain foods, as well as back pain or leg pain. And that was before the random sickness in the days that seemed to only worsen each passing month. Sleeping was the only time Luna got any physical and mental peace.

"You've got me there, Lori. It's just hard not to do what you love, especially when what you love doing is now a paying career. It makes you keep doing it," Luna responded. Lori understood that certainly, sadly the oldest Loud sibling had given up on her own personal dreams a while back, the only dream the short blonde haired woman had now was to live a happy life with Bobby.

"I get that," Lori sighed, "it isn't easy to stop what you're doing. That's why when I get home today, I promise I'm going to help you find something that you can enjoy as much as music."

"Thanks, Lori. You're really being nice to me lately. I was worried you were up to no good... I've thought like that for the last few months, actually," Luna stated. The fear of Lori trying to sabotage her and Lincoln's private life had done nothing to fan the flames of hatred and distrust in their bonds. They all felt terrible for that practical fight of a meeting from months ago.

"Don't push it. I'm still mad about what you and Lincoln were doing. You don't have to lie to me about it anymore. Even if mom and dad find out they're too old to do anything," Lori requested. If the Loud parents tried to do anything to Lincoln, Luna or their unborn child, the entire family might dogpile them. It would be an outcome nobody wanted to imagine, but that was how volatile the Loud family was and how much they would protect each other, as long as it was for the right reasons.

"You should've seen it this morning, Lori..." the rising rock star murmured while looking over to the line. The cooks still weren't done making their order yet it seemed.

"Seen what? The squirrels working together to knock over a trash can again? That's kind of gotten pretty normal..." Lori had no idea what her sister was talking about, but she had a smile on her face that seemed to grow more by merely recalling it.

"No, not that. This morning I woke up to the little guy in me moving around a lot. I never felt him move that much before... Lincoln was sleeping with his head on my stomach. It was like the two were having a silent talk. ...well, maybe, I don't know how else to say it," Luna explained. It was an awkward awakening at first, but it soon became a cute sight. The blonde Loud gained a smile of her own.

"I feel stupid for being so mad at you two. I mean, you two are being just as responsible as mom and dad, _but_..." Lori's voice trailed off. She seemed nervous to confess where she believed the biggest source of her anger thrived from.

"But what?" Luna raised an eyebrow.

"The reason I thought you didn't care for this baby is because of how laid back you are. Me and Bobby have talked about having a child so many times, but we need to wait. But you... you were able to just go and do it without a care in the world, and you're more than well prepared to take care of it, and it makes me... I dunno, jealous," Lori confessed. It seemed like the source of their disgruntled arguments was a huge misunderstanding. All the same, Luna was being cautious.

"Well, you should know me by now, Lori. I don't look it, but I'm ready for this little guy. I'm so carefree because that's just who I am. I know what's right and wrong though, and Lincoln will be there to help balance things," Luna reassured. She was more than up to the task of raising a child, she had helped raise half of their family after all. She knew when to stop relaxing and get serious. But lately there was no such thing as rest for her. This conversation was making the pregnant Loud feel anxious. She was afraid of saying one thing wrong and causing a fight, in a public place no less.

"Yeah... I guess I got more worked up imagining Lincoln being dragged into something he didn't want to have any part with," Lori added. For a pizza parlor, it felt more like a therapist office. Perhaps the aroma was helping them both relax.

"Trust me. I talked to Lincoln a **whole** lot about it... He's been nothing but supportive. I do feel terrible for practically forcing him to grow up so fast like this, but I told him that he didn't need to be involved if he didn't want to be." Luna shook her head. She was much happier than she anticipated him. She was glad that an accident had blossomed into a relationship, even if it was forced to its highest step really fast.

"Again...?" the growing rock star groaned, holding her stomach, when a twinge of pain surged in her.

"Luna? Are you okay?" the oldest Loud sister worriedly asked, getting up from her chair and going to her sister's side.

"Ye-yeah, yeah. I'm alright. The little guys been really active since the last night," Luna said. It felt like her baby was twisting her insides. She presumed it was simply kicking a lot.

"Active?" Lori stared, "What does the pain feel like?"

"It feels like my back and lower stomach are tightening. It's been happening since last night, and it's been getting a lot worse today," Luna explained. She presumed it was something that she had ate messing with her stomach, and being on her feet too much was where the back pain came from she thought. The pain kept getting closer together in terms of timings throughout the day.

"Okay, look. I don't want you to worry, but that sounds a lot like cramping," Lori stated. Sadly, the request to not worry was ignored. A sense of dread quickly altered Luna's expression.

"Wh-what?! But I'm not due for two months!" Luna tried to stand up, but another wave of pain overtook her lower stomach. She groaned from the cramping and had to sit back down in her chair. It was that very moment that Lori noticed something else that she had not made note of before, since Luna had her legs under the table.

"Your pants are wet..." Lori muttered. She realized what this meant.

"Hey..." one of the workers finally brought over their pizza, "Is everything okay?"

"No. Please, call 911. My sister's going into labor, tell them her water just broke." The blonde woman tried to remain calm, but was practically screaming inside her head. The pizza worker went wide eyed, but he nodded, going off to make the call quickly.

"It's too early. What if they aren't able to survive?" Luna whimpered, holding her stomach with one hand. Lori gripped her other hand.

"Just breathe and try to relax. Everything is going to be fine," Lori reassured. The doctor yesterday seemed to be right. The lack of rest seemed to have caused too much stress on Luna's body that lead to this chain of events. Luna had tears welling in her eyes. A few other people were coming over to try and help upon overhearing the news of a baby being on the way.

"Please... Call Lincoln, Lori," Luna sounded like she was begging. Lori knew that Lincoln would probably be upset at the news, but Luna needed him, even if all he said was that he 'told her so'.

"I'll call him once the ambulance gets here. I'm not going to leave you alone, okay?" Lori promised. The ever growing rock star was glad to have her oldest sister's support.

 _ **"Please... Please let the baby be okay..."**_


	14. Labor

**Authors note: yeah sorry for this chapter being short, there was a lot of fat that got trimmed during all three proofread run through's, honestly this fics chapter was basically rewritten. And I'm not happy with it whatsoever, the assistants say its fine but I feel like this is honestly our worst chapter. And I am sorry for that, this is Fallen pens, dropping out.**

Lincoln had run all the way to the hospital, almost passing out on the entrance. His heart beating out of his chest, ready to explode. His mind was more scattered than his own family half of the time. He leaned against a wall outside of the E.R, trying to catch his breath. He had run so fast that he did not even realize he had lost Ronnie Anne and Clyde, who had been trying to follow behind him.

"I guess no one else is here yet," the teenager looked in the parking lot. He could not see his family's car Vanzilla anywhere, though there were three parking lots around this hospital, so he hoped that he was simply having a terrible case of tunnel vision. Lincoln made his way inside, not caring for his body's demand for rest. He made his way into the emergency room, dodging past the dozen sick people waiting around, and went right for the receptionist's desk.

"E-excuse me! I'm looking for Luna Loud," Lincoln's clear tone of mixed emotions was obvious to the worker.

"Alright… Name and relation with Miss Loud?"

"Lincoln Loud. I'm her brother. She's supposed to be here," Lincoln begrudgingly answered, trying to keep calm, but his inner terrors made that rather hard. He would not calm down remotely unless he was at least a foot near Luna.

"Ah, yes… she arrived fifteen minutes ago. She's on the seventh floors maternity ward, room 8," the nurse barely finished her sentence before the teenage boy vanished in half a second for the staircase, despite the elevator being open and ready to be boarded.

* * *

"Come on… Come on… damn it!" An irritated Lori stomped, she had Luna's cellphone in her hand. She had been trying to call their family ever since they first arrived to the hospital. She had barely gotten the call out to two of her siblings in the first place. The oldest Loud mentally hoped that one of them would inform the rest of their family.

 **"Lori!"**

Lori saw Lincoln come to a screeching halt in front of her, looking to have lost his sense of balance. "Lincoln! Are you okay?"

"Forget about me! What about Luna? What happened?" Lincoln did not even try to hide how panicked he was. His oldest sister pointed to the door behind her, where their pregnant sibling was currently.

"They're trying to get her ready for everything, so they wanted me out of the way… Me and Luna were just talking while we were about to have lunch, but before I knew it, she started having cramps and her water broke," Lori explained. She tried, and couldn't motion her little brother to calm down. She purposefully excluded the fact that Luna had most likely been having early signs of labor since last night, she did not want to make her little brother feel guilty for something he could not control.

"They haven't said anything?" Lincoln looked mentally broken. The oldest Loud could take some reassurance in the twos relationship that he would be a caring father, from how he acted so worried for his loved ones well being.

"They said that Luna was too far along for any painkillers… She has to do without them, and the doctors said they won't allow more than a few of us in the room at a time," Lori explained. This hospital was all too familiar with the Loud family. It was where most of them were born after all. Some of their mother's friends worked here as well.

"And… Lincoln, I want you to hear this from me, instead of Luna or a doctor, okay?" Lori looked her only brother in the eyes, it was like staring into a pair of cracked mirrors reflecting her own internal guilt for how immature she had acted these last few months.

"What? I don't care if it's twins," Lincoln may not be showing much more than anxiety, but he was very eager. If Luna was giving birth to a surprise second child, it changed nothing in the matters of how he felt.

"No, it's not twins… it's that… 'sigh,' your baby could be underdeveloped. The doctors said that they'd need to be taken for immediate testing to see if anything's wrong, if there is something wrong they could... They could die." Lori could see the tears forming quick in his eyes from shock at the mere news that his baby could be in danger, of any form. Even after all of the build up to its birth.

 _"N…no no no no…"_ Lincoln held his head. His sister pulled him into a hug and let him cry into her chest. She couldn't look at him while he was like this. Most adults would not be able to keep it together upon hearing this news. She couldn't imagine what someone at his age of barely sixteen would possibly be feeling like right now.

"It's okay, Lincoln. Don't get worked up. It's only a twenty percent chance that the baby could have any problems," Lori tried to comfort him by rubbing his back and repeating what doctors had said. But Lincoln still wasn't reassured. He just wanted to wake up from this nightmare, anything above 0 percent was too much to him.

"Lincoln!" They heard down the hallway. They could see Clyde and Ronnie Anne coming, exhausted after the ridiculous length his friends went to follow him.

"What are you two doing here?" Lori asked since her little brother was too distraught to even acknowledge their presence. His emotional state was a hard sight for them to witness.

"It's a long story," Clyde panted. "We saw him run off and his boss told us what was going on. We tried to keep up, but he's really hard to keep up with when he starts running."

"Guessing no one else has shown up yet?" Ronnie Anne asked.

"Nope. And I'm kind of glad because as far as I'm concerned, soon enough, there's going to be a lot of screaming, and then more when they do show up," Lori murmured. She could hear Luna's pained groans from the other side of the door, which seemed to worsen as time passed.

"A lot of screaming," Clyde agreed. They all knew how labor worked, they doubted the Louds would make it any less noisy too.

"All we can do is wait until they're ready, whoever they decide to let in is going to be Luna's choice," the oldest Loud stated. Due to the size of the Loud family, they were not going to allow more than two people in at a time, if they were lucky. It only seemed right for Luna to choose who would be with her through the birth once things were ready to begin. Lincoln could barely listen. His own thoughts had overtaken him.

 _"I should have done more to make her take it easy… This is all my fault…"_

* * *

The next short time span that passed felt like an eternity. It did not take long for the rest of the Loud family to arrive. It was a nightmare for Lori to explain the whole situation and the doctors orders to the whole family, and twice so they could understand. Lincoln barely responded to any of the family when they attempted to converse with him. At this point, he was ignoring everyone in trade for his own thoughts.

"Oh my," a nurse stood at the door for Luna's room. Nothing could be seen beyond the doorway due to a privacy curtain. Instantly the doctor's assistant was mobbed by the majority of the Loud family.

"Is Luna okay?!"

"Is the baby alright?"

"Has she given birth already?"

"Can we see her?"

"For a maternity ward. it sure feels like the adults are the ones 'crying' right now."

"Not now, Luan!"

 ** _"GIRLS!"_ ** Lynn Sr. stopped them, and things instantly calmed down.

"Sorry. They're all very worried," Rita apologized to the nurse.

"I-it's alright... Families always look bigger when they're together, but this is kind of an extreme case," the nurse commented while regaining her composure.

"So far everything is going fine. Luna is about ready to begin pushing, and there are no signs of distress from the baby from what we can tell," the nurse claimed. However they would not really be able to tell how the baby was faring up until they were born. They did not have time to run several tests on Luna, and the few they already had run so far came back fine.

"Oh, thank goodness," Leni let out a relieved sigh. She had Lily in her arms, who was tired from being awoken in the middle of a nap for this.

"Can we see her then?" Lynn requested.

"Well, we can only have two in at a time, and Luna already told me who she wanted in there," the nurse replied. The Loud parents stepped up, assuming it would be them.

"Kids," Rita breathed, "Please try and be patient while we're in there."

"And please behave. I've had enough hospital bills in my life already," Lynn Sr. ordered while trying to make a light hearted joke. Only Luan chuckled, and nobody else.

"Uh... sorry," the nurse stopped the two parents, "But unless you two are named Lincoln and Lori, you can't come in."

"What?" Rita was surprised along with her husband, "But we're her parents!"

"Mom! It's Luna's decision! There really isn't any time to fight over every little thing," Lori countered. Everyone was surprised to really hear her saying anything about this.

"I anticipate that today is going to be yet another chaotic nightmare..." Lisa murmured, rubbing her head. They watched as Lincoln got up and just headed into the room silently with the nurse. Lori followed shortly after. The door shut tight behind them.

"What is going on?" Mr Loud asked. All of their children did not know what to say. Their parents were hurt by this minor motion.

"Did we upset Luna...?" Rita wondered aloud. No one answered her. There was no good way for them to answer since they did not know if they had upset her recently or not, but the Loud siblings knew why Luna wanted Lincoln with her, but did not know not why she also wanted Lori since their relationship had been in shambles these last few months.

"We'll explain after the child's born... we'd rather not watch you both have a heart attack," Luan promised. They did not want to put up with their parents. They already had enough anxiety for their siblings health.

"Neither of you are going to be happy with any of us after this, too," Lucy mused. The Loud parents seemed already upset enough. They looked afraid to even hear what could make them flippant at the whole family.

Lily was subtly glaring at their parents. She had a bad feeling overwhelming her body. If they did try to do anything to hurt Lincoln or Luna, the youngest Loud would be more than happy to do what she planned for Lori to them, the old plan that she now did not need to do to Lori since she was being friendly again. All Lily cared about was the happiness of those she loved.

 _"Lily is going to be a good aunt... She'll be the best aunt... I need Leni's makeup box thingy,"_ Lily mentally told herself, promising to make sure that the parents would be happy, no matter what it took.

* * *

"Luna! A-are you okay?" Lincoln worriedly approached his older sister. She was in a hospital gown. To see them both gave her a happy look. Otherwise, she was trying to tolerate the escalating agony.

"Not at all... I feel like I'm dying..." Luna groaned. Even if she was exaggerating the pain, they did not like hearing that at all. Lincoln put his hand in hers. She needed his support right now, and he knew he had to give her that support every step of the way.

"Why'd you want me here? I thought you hated me," Lori asked. The doctor was getting his gloves on. Luna was practically crushing their hands already by merely holding them.

"I know how you really feel... Sorry for acting so bratty these last few months," Luna answered. Lori patted her head to reassure her she did not do much wrong to her. They both had made mistakes and made up already. Lincoln was happy to see the two getting along again.

"Alright, Luna," the doctor took a seat in front of her, the two nurses on standby in case there was something wrong with the soon to be mother or the baby.

"Are you ready?"

"A-as ready as I think I can be," Luna gulped, feeling both of her brotherly lover's hands on one of hers.

"I promised I'd be there, no matter what. After this is dealt with, we'll treat you to a lot of apples," Lincoln joked. His talk really went a long way to making his sister gain a big smile. He only hoped to whatever force left on Earth that everything would be fine.

 _"Please, I'll give anything to just hear that crying as soon as possible..."_


	15. Stressed

**Authors note: We worked hard on this chapter, I don't got much confidence in it, so I apologize if it is terrible...I hope you all can enjoy it. This is Fallen pens, dropping out.**

The next hour and a half of agonized screams passed. Luna was doing her best to follow the doctor's orders, but it was hard to resist the urge to constantly push. Lincoln and Lori had their hands practically crushed alive.

"I-I think she broke one of my fingers…" the teenage boy did his best to stay strong, but he was suffering from not just his sore fingers, but his own anxiety.

"Come on Luna! One more big push!" Lori encouraged. Luna seemed to be fading in an out of consciousness. Luna complied, and pushed, a loud scream following it.

"There they are!" the doctor announced as the sound of higher pitched crying rung out. Lincoln had a bright smile on his face with a wave of relief washing over him upon hearing the baby. Luna did not feel much better, but kept her own happy expression at the news.

"Well? What is it?" Lori excitedly asked.

"It's a girl!" the nurse answered, "Congratulations, Miss Loud."

"I knew it'd be a girl," Lincoln grinned.

"Guess my body's not too accurate…" Luna coughed. She looked paler from this whole event. The doctor was trying to finish the last few requirements, but the labor was over. Her brother and sister could not look away from the baby.

"Oh my goshhhh! She's so adorable!" Lori clapped. She wished that her cellphone was not out of power. Then she would have filled the memory card up with pictures by now.

"She has a lot more hair than Lily did when she was born…" Lincoln commented. The little girl had very short, dark white hair. She seemed to resemble him quite a lot.

"So far everything's looking good. Hearts sounding great, she's screaming as Loud as her mother, so at least her lungs are fine," the doctor joked. Hearing that relieved the family members.

"Would you like to hold her, Miss Loud?" the nurse offered. They still were required to have the baby go through some tests, but things were looking positive. Luna seemed only half awake, and Lori couldn't blame her for the tiredness after all she went through.

"Luna?" Lincoln put a hand on her shoulder. He noticed his sisterly lover slump over. A loud beeping sounded from the vital monitoring leads.

"Luna?! Luna, come on! Snap out of it!" Lori was horrified. The doctor gave the newborn to one of the nurses before going to the rock star Loud.

"Her blood pressure's through the roof... Get them out of here now!" the doctor ordered for the room to be cleared. The other nurse apologetically shoved them both out of the room without a second for the Louds to react, the door closing behind them.

"What happened?" Lynn was one of the few family members left in the hallway. The others had gone to get their own late lunch since they had assumed Luna was nowhere near done with giving birth. Their parents were surprisingly depressed as well. Only Leni, Luan, Lynn, and Lola had stayed behind. Ronnie Anne was nearby regaining her energy, though Clyde had gone to join the others for that late lunch.

"I… I don't know," Lincoln was unsure how to feel at the moment. His daughter was born seemingly healthy, but now Luna was suffering, and he did not know why.

"Luna fainted after the baby was born…" Lori announced. She could not treat this as a joyous occasion, but was unsure to treat it as terrible either.

"What?!" The unity cry of reactions filled the corridor.

"I've never heard of someone fainting after giving birth or during it," Ronnie Anne commented.

"It was something about her blood pressure," Lincoln mused. He knew almost nothing, just as they did.

"Don't even try to beat yourself up over this! Like you do with every other little thing that happens!" Lola growled. Lincoln was surprised by the spoiled sibling's comment. She was right, as far as he could recall. He was not going to go denying that. He indeed felt like it was his fault this happened.

"Look, there's nothing to worry about… y'know, my clown college teacher once told me something that might help here," Luan was looked at by the family. She was not entirely sure what she had in mind aside from one strange prank. She would barely pull off cruel pranks outside of April Fool's day.

"And what's that? Ronnie Anne raised an eyebrow.

"Can't find anything funny at the moment? Try and find something funny from the future. I think it means focus on the positives and look ahead," Luan explained to the best of her ability, but it sounded good. Lincoln still seemed to be processing things. Lori was not much better off. If something happened to Luna so shortly after they had reconciled, only devastation would linger in her heart.

"Ohh, I get it! I think…" Leni turned to the new father, liking the idea of focusing on the positives given the situation. "Was your baby okay?"

"So far…" Lincoln sighed, "But I doubt they're going to let me near them until everything checks out alright."

Lola felt terrible seeing him like this. Though she had to ask the baby's gender, as the rest of the family wanted to ask, and were eager to know. "Did you have a boy or a girl?"

"A girl…" Lincoln showed a faint smile, "She looks a lot like me."

"That's great! I can't wait to hold them," Lynn confessed her eagerness.

"I'd be worried you'd dunk that baby like it was a basketball," Ronnie Anne smirked, only to receive an angry glare from her.

"What?! No, I wouldn't! I've never done anything to my family… aside from accidentally hitting them with balls…" Lynn's short rambling trailed off at the end. Lola felt her nose throb in pain at the memory of that. Lincoln could feel his head throbbing at the feeling of every concussion his older sister had given him.

"Alright, don't start you two. I already have to put up with Lola and Lana enough," Lori got between the Santiago girl and her younger sister before they could fight. The door for Luna's room opened up, and they saw the rock star sibling wheeled past them, the doctor pushing her medical bed. One nurse following with the baby in her arms.

"Wuh-where are you taking them?!" Lincoln cried out. The other nurse stepping out into the hall.

"One's going to intensive care and the others going to neonatal intensive care," the nurse explained, trying to calm them down. The people in the hall looked stressed enough without another piece of bad news.

"But I thought you said the baby was fine!" Lori argued.

"Her breathing became shallow. It's nothing to panic about, but she still needs to be monitored until she's fully stable. Now please, I have to go assist them," the nurse hurried off down the hall. Lincoln did not know what to say. Leni and Luan looked to each other.

"Lincoln… how about we go get something to eat with the others?" Luan offered. Ronnie Anne stayed silent, feeling terrible to see her ex-boyfriend's internal agony.

"But…" Lincoln held his head.

"There isn't anything you can do right now. You haven't had any rest, either," Lola begged, not wanting her only brother to go fainting on them.

"…Fine…" Lincoln struggled to stand up. Lola began to pull him along, Luan, Leni and Lynn following behind them so they could find the rest of their family.

"Are you coming?" Lori offered Ronnie Anne. The Santiago girl gave a reluctant shrug.

"I'll come find you guys when there's news… I'm not hungry. I'll call Bobby for you though," Ronnie Anne claimed. The oldest Loud had forgotten about her long time boyfriend during the stress of today. Whether or not he could make it currently was unknown.

"Thanks, Ronnie Anne," Lori went off to catch up with the others. Ronnie Anne knew that their family would not be hard to find. She began to wander toward the ICU, thinking she could at least keep an eye on things so she could catch the news before anyone else.

 _"Don't go breaking down Lame-o,"_ Ronnie Anne told herself, trying to keep the morbid worries in the back of her mind, but they managed to get to the forefront of her brain.

 _"It really won't do any good for anyone. Especially if you're all that little girl has left after this."_

* * *

"That's pretty much what happened," Lori had just finished explaining things to the family while they were in the hospital cafeteria. Nobody was happy. Their despaired looks were all the same.

"Lincoln, honey, you look like you're about to break down…" Rita tried to talk to her son, who was looking to his hands.

"I didn't even get to hold her… I'm scared that it was my only chance to," Lincoln rested his head into his hands. His mother patted his back. She knew how great it felt to hold a newborn. She was not aware of how close he actually was to Luna's child.

"He's broken down a lot… Every time he gets it together, something breaks him again," Lori stated, feeling horrible for him. No one deserved that kind of treatment, aside from their worst enemies.

"It'll be alright, dude. I'm sure by the end of today, Luna'll be writing her next song," Clyde told his best friend with a smile, trying to be optimistic.

"Thanks, Clyde…" Lincoln meekly sighed.

"I still can't find my makeup kit…" Leni murmured. She had cried a little when the worry got the best of her and she could not find the very tools she needed to reapply her makeup. Even if she did not wear much, she still felt uncomfortable without it.

"I'm tired of everything going wrong lately," Lana stated the group's thoughts, like the old family tradition continued to prove. Whenever there was silence in the Loud family, it always meant a terrible event was happening.

"So… can I just ask why Luna wanted you two to be with her?" Lynn Sr. tried to calm his wife's mind of her worry that they may have upset Luna. They wondered what the news their kids wanted to tell them was, but they were still not talking since it was not the best time for them to.

"We made up today, and I did everything I could when she started going into labor," Lori replied. She thought it was why she was brought to her niece's birth.

"…Because I loved her," Lincoln mused. He had waited on the rock star hand and foot. He was not even trying to be subtle or secretive anymore. He wanted to look forward to fatherhood, but now he had to try and avert his gaze to anything else, just so he would not have an anxiety attack.

"You can be at ease. Even the worst case scenario for Luna's fainting spell is not that bad, if it is just from high blood pressure," Lisa put her glasses on her face after she had finished cleaning them.

"What's the worst, then?" Lucy hesitantly asked. She thought maybe it would cheer up Lincoln.

"The worst thing that it could be, given the situation and how she exhibited no other symptoms, nothing more than simply losing a lot of blood during childbirth," Lisa explained. Somehow despite hearing that in her usual straight face tone, it was obvious the child prodigy was lying to a certain degree.

"Hm? Oh, hey Lily…" Lincoln half-heartedly greeted his youngest sister upon seeing her, she had crawled under the table to surprise him. The teenage boy picked her up and let her sit on his lap.

"Is Lily an aunt now?" Lily eagerly asked. Her only brother lightly laughed and nodded.

"Yes, you are, Lily. Probably the youngest aunt in the world," Lincoln rubbed her head, the family finding it adorable.

"Are you sure we can't see Luna or the baby…?" Lana asked.

"Did you think of any baby names yet?" Lola added. Lincoln wanted to answer, but he had no answer, him and Luna had been so excited to just be having a child that they never even put any thought into a name. Lincoln felt silly right now.

"Now, Lana, you know Luna needs rest. The doctor will come get us when we can see Luna. We'd just be in the way if we kept bothering them," Rita assured. Lana looked disappointed, but nodded, understanding.

"Well, we know what to do now!" Lynn Sr. declared, "Let's think up a bunch of names and tell them to Luna. I'm sure we can think up a bunch for her baby." It seemed to cheer the family a lot.

"Hey, that's a great idea!"

"It has to start with an L."

"Why's that?

"I don't know. Everyone in our family has an L for a name except mom."

"She is indeed correct on that fact…"

"Wow, this is harder than I thought."

"I'm not good at coming up with names. I told mom and dad to have Lincoln named Linny when he was first born."

"I had so many ideas until we started to all try and come up with ideas… One of those moments…"

"I'll pass," Lincoln stated, getting up from the table after putting Lily in her seat.

"Where are you going son?" their dad asked.

"Back upstairs, except to the NICU this time… Mom, dad, I really need to talk to you too, so can you meet me outside of the NICU?" Lincoln asked. His parents were concerned and confused, but they nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Lincoln headed off on that note, leaving his plate untouched.

"He didn't eat again…" Lola huffed in irritation, hating to see her brother punishing himself like this.

"Maybe he's on a diet?"

"You know why he's upset!"

"We do?"

"Oh 'baby', come on, you're bringing me to 'tears' here."

"Please stop, Luan… Just stop."

"Girls, please don't do anything while we're gone," Lynn Sr. begged, but the Loud parents were mostly ignored by their children's back and forth talk, but as long as they weren't fighting, they were happy.

"I think they'll be fine dear. Come on, I'm really worried about Lincoln," Rita insisted they get going, her husband nodding. They left the cafeteria, Lily focusing on the two immediately before hopping out of her chair and beginning to follow behind secretly.

"No way! Lano is not a girl's name!"

"Lion isn't the type of name you give a person either."

"Hey! Lions are awesome!"

"Well, statistically it is shown that what name you are given at birth will tell what type of person you become in life."

"Really?"

"Uhhh… Where'd Lily go?" Leni chimed up midway. Clyde was not even trying to throw any ideas he had in there, as he didn't have much confidence in the names he came up with.

"She was right there," Lori shrugged, assuming something caught their youngest sister's attention.

"I'll go find her," Lynn volunteered, hopping up to go try and find Lily.

"I'll help you!" Clyde, not wanting to be left in that awkward position anymore, hopped up and scurried off to help. Even if Lynn hated his guts, he welcomed an annoyed tone compared to a headache.

* * *

Lincoln was upstairs, currently standing outside of the neonatal intensive care unit, staring in through the wall of glass that was used for parents to watch their babies from afar. He was not sure if he appreciated the thought being put in, or hated it mainly for what he saw.

 _"Most of these people aren't alone… I don't even look like a parent,"_ Lincoln thought. He could see his daughter from here. The little white haired newborn looked content slumbering, compared to the other newborns, but the many machines hooked up to her did little to remedy that appearance.

"Oh, pardon me," he heard when a doctor simply making their rounds bumped into him. He brushed it off with ease.

"No, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't be standing here," the Loud boy apologized, the doctor was taking off their scrubs.

"So which one's yours?" the doctor chimed. She seemed kind, but Lincoln was surprised that she could tell he even had a child here. He assumed that the doctor would have expected him to be a worried sibling or other family member of any of the babies here.

"It's her, the one with the dark snow hair," Lincoln pointed, the doctor looking at the baby.

"Ah, her. She really is a sweetheart," the doctor commented, standing beside him.

"Uh…" Lincoln had to ask. His curiosity was too big, "Do you mind if I ask how you knew I had a child?"

"I've seen that look of yours a million times since I became a pediatrician… Every parent looking in here looks like sad dogs in a store window, because they're separated from their puppies," the doctor laughed, seeming very lighthearted and laid back. Lincoln gave a laugh of his own, finding the comparison good, considering he had seen that a lot at where he worked.

"Your daughter seems like the type to make many Higala."

"Higala…?" the teenage boy tilted his head. It sounded foreign to him.

"One of my teachers used that word a lot," the doctor explained, "It's Cebuano. It means Friends. Ever since I heard it, I couldn't stop using it to describe my friendships."

"I wonder how that'd sound to Luna… Ligala Loud…" Lincoln smiled. He liked the sound of that name a lot. He wished he could ask his daughter and her mother themselves. The doctor patted his back reassuringly before heading off. The young sixteen year old stayed, looking at the newborn, not moving a single centimeter from his spot.

"Hey, Lincoln, sorry for the wait," his parents came over, having finally gotten there after they had some confusion with the directions due to a clumsy nurse's failed help.

"I didn't notice," their only son replied.

"If you wanted to look at babies, the nursery is down the hall," Rita commented, not sure why anyone would go out of their way to look at sick children. To the dentist's assistant, it seemed as morbid as ever.

"Yeah, but… Luna's baby is here," Lincoln stated. Sadly, despite their hopes, their first grandchild had been admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit. The testing gave no other results that were mixed being the cause.

"I really wish they weren't in there, this gives me bad memories to when Lisa was born…" Lynn Sr. exhaled, not enjoying recalling it at all, but in comparison, Lisa had only spent a day in the NICU after she was born due to an erratic heart rate. Thankfully nothing came from it.

"I've got a feeling I know which one's our granddaughter," Rita smiled. The white hair on the little girl was a giveaway.

"She's the one," Lincoln nodded, pulling his attention away from his child, finally ready to face his parents. "I have to tell you this… about her… Since Luna is in bad shape, I'd rather you heard this from me and no one else."

The Loud family parents were not sure what it was, but they wanted to know what this supposed big secret was that would make them upset, if the others were right in the forewarning.

"Sure, son, what is it?" the father breathed.

"I… I don't know how I can say this," Lincoln gulped, nervous. His mother had the look of reassurance, trying to show that he could confide in them no matter what, but he still was afraid.

"Honey, please tell us if something's wrong. If you're depressed or if you need help we're more than glad to get you it, no matter what you need," Rita claimed.

"Thanks mom, b-but look, I'm actually really happy… Luna never got drunk at any party, she's known who the father was since day one because…" Lincoln froze up in fear, trying to take in a deep breath to calm down. Finally he forced the words past his vocal chords.

"Because I'm the father of that little girl."

The tense atmosphere froze and locked up in an instant.

"Wh-what are you talking about, Lincoln?" Rita broke the silence, not sure if they had heard him right. They were thankfully alone, at least in this part of the ward.

"I'm saying I'm this baby's father… I had sex with Luna that same time you all went out, and we stayed home," Lincoln did not shy away anymore. He had already confessed it in an underlying sense.

"What?! Why. What? You don't need me to go into detail with why that's bad, do you?" Lynn Sr. was looking ready to faint.

"I know, dad… I feel terrible for it, because… I was trying my best to cheer her up and things went that way before anything else happened," the sixteen year old boy stated. Things were a lot more complex than that, but he could not possibly begin to go into detail.

"Lincoln Loud! What would your sisters say if they found out?! What you did was wrong on so many levels! Luna is in as much trouble as you are!" Rita scolded him. He expected that reaction, but Luna was in a worse condition. He did not even want to hear any threats made against her.

"They've known for months, mom! And you leave Luna out of this. She's already had enough stress to put up with! I'm taking responsibility for what I did. I've given up so much for Luna and the baby," Lincoln retorted angrily. He was not standing for any threats.

"Don't you take that tone with us, mister!"

" **Tone?!** That's the thing you're caring about right now? You two left me to handle my own problems most of my life, even when my sisters were ganging up on me! If they didn't take care of me, especially Luna, I'd probably be an even worse person now."

"Alright, you two," Lynn Sr. stepped between the two. He was terrified of his wife, but he wanted everyone to be happy. But he was aware that playing the middle man might worsen things.

"We can't go fighting about what's already been done. We should be happy, Rita. I mean, we're grandparents now!"

"I want to be happy, I really do, but there could be so many problems wrong with this baby. What they did was incest. Incest! Don't you know what that word means?!" Rita seemed shocked at how her husband tried to brush things off so calmly. Her husband groaned, wondering why his family was all terrible to tolerate in the heat of the moments.

"Look, it is bad what they did, but the responsibility is what's important. That baby is going to be alright, I'm positive… but Lincoln, can I ask why none of you told us?" the Loud father turned to his only son, hoping for any answer to calm down everyone.

"You know why, dad," Lincoln half-heartedly replied.

"Well son, you should know by now that I'm not exactly that smart, and I'm a lot worse when under stress so… Can you please tell us why you couldn't tell us?" Lynn Sr. repeated his request, Rita waiting impatiently. Lori really did inherit her anger issues from their mother.

"Because… No matter how far along the baby was, we had a feeling you'd want Luna to abort it or put it up for adoption, just because I'm the father," Lincoln answered. That seemed like a giant insult to the Loud mother.

"Mister, you're really pushing it here. I've never, EVER, in my life even thought about doing anything like that! I'd never demand one of my kids to do it either!" she berated him. Lynn Sr. looked too nervous to comment.

* * *

Lily stood in hiding. She was expecting the worst to happen as she watched them fight in secrecy.

"Alright, Lily… Be the best aunt you can be you have to do what's right," she mentally reminded herself while getting out Leni's makeup kit. Watching all of her family so much had taught her well enough how to put on makeup, but what she was going for was something very specific.

* * *

"Well I'm sorry mom, but I can't tell anymore… All I see right now is someone who isn't even happy for their grandchild, it's like they never wanted them to exist," Lincoln drew the line for his mother. He felt a hard slap go across his face.

"H-honey!" Lynn Sr. grabbed his wife, looking at Lincoln who was now in the floor with a bruise on his cheek.

"I'm your mother! You should respect me, not because I'm older, not because of what I do, but because I love you! You're acting like I'm some sort of uncaring monster! Do you know how that makes me feel?!" Rita demanded. The teenager got up from the floor, not looking to them. He stared into the NICU.

"Well, young man? **Answer me!** "

"What's there to answer…? Nothing I say will make you happy, so I'm going to just focus on what makes me happy," Lincoln brushed his mother off. He cared for everyone in his family, but he was not going to tolerate his mother if that smack was going to be an answer to his reasoning.

 _ **"HONEY! THAT'S ENOUGH!"**_ Lynn Sr. shouted, yanking his wife back upon seeing her try to approach their son again. He had never seen Rita this emotionally wrecked. He was afraid she might worsen their situation.

" **HEY!** " they heard someone call to them. They could see a furious Lynn standing there.

"Lynn?" Lincoln looked to her, "What are you doing here?"

"Lynn, not now," Rita spoke to her, "We are having a very important talk."

"After what you did? I'm not going anywhere now…" Lynn stomped toward them.

"Oh gosh…" Lynn Sr. held his head, wishing he could faint right now

"What I did? Honey, look, I… I overreacted to your brother. I was just about to apologize," Rita stated.

"What? You hurt Lincoln too?"

"What do you mean 'Lincoln too'?" Lynn Sr. was terrified to ask.

"What do I mean?! Lily was in the stairwell crying with a black eye! She said mom **HIT HER** after she tried to stop you two from coming upstairs to talk to Lincoln! She knew you'd just fight," Lynn explained. Lincoln was stunned to hear that. He looked at his mother in disbelief.

"Mom, did you really…?" Lincoln nervously asked.

"No! Of course not! We haven't even seen Lily! Right honey?" Rita said defensively, looking to her husband for assurance.

"Dear, you know that I took the elevator because of my bad leg," even Lynn Sr. seemed to be doubting his wife. Having to do so much house work made his left leg rather weak and unable to tolerate giant flights of staircases like in the hospital, so the two had taken different methods to this floor, resulting in their separation.

"Clyde?" Lincoln took notice of his best friend standing around the corner, leaving his sister to their mother and father as he went over.

"Dear god…!" the teenage boy stopped in shock, seeing Lily in his best friend's arms. The youngest Loud was sucking her thumb for comfort. Her left eye looked bruised like she had been punched by a schoolyard bully, or hit by a baseball.

"Dude, I think this is going to be the least of our worries…" Clyde commented, trying to do his best to console Lily, but she refused to calm down.

"H…how could mom…?! I understand hitting me, but Lily? Why?! She's only a toddler!" Lincoln looked at his youngest sister with worry. If this was what his mother did to Lily, he hated to imagine what she might do to her grandchild. "…What do you mean the least of our worries, Clyde?"

"When Lynn and I found her like this, she texted the rest of your sisters," Clyde explained. They maybe had less than a minute before the stairs shook and the hospital became a practical Loud house of its own.

"Oh no…" Lincoln felt the ground rumble. Clyde handed over the youngest Loud to his best friend before darting away to safety. In seconds, he was swamped by the rest of his family.

"Lincoln! Lily! You two look horrible!"

"Lily, are you okay?"

"Did mom really do this?!"

"No way! Mom isn't someone who'd snap like that!"

"Well, there is the possibility she could be growing senile… Or early onset Alzheimer's disease."

"She is so not going to get away for doing this!"

"I can't even joke about this… It's horrible!"

Lincoln felt more overwhelmed than usual. There was too much going on for his jumbled state of mind to handle. He was too worried about Luna the baby and Lily right now to even remotely try and begin calming his other sisters, he simply could not keep a chain of thoughts going.

"Lincoln, did mom hit you?" Lori asked when she saw that bruise on his cheek.

"We were arguing. I went too far and…"

"She hit you," the sisters finished with their guess. Lincoln gave a reluctant nod. He was relieved to know that this was not happening near the NICU at least.

"Yeah… she knocked me to the floor," Lincoln answered. The sisters gave one glance back to Lynn, they could see she was verbally cornering their mother, while their father tried and spectacularly failed to help calm things down.

"Lincoln… Stay here with Lily," Lori ordered.

"Wa-wait! What are you going to do?" Lincoln wondered.

"What she did was abuse you two. We're going to teach her what she did wrong," Leni answered. Lincoln had to watch as the rest of his sisters went to gather with Lynn.

"Girls, wait! Your mother must've hit Lily by accident, there has to be an explanation!" Lynn Sr. got shoved aside. His wife was surrounded.

"You think you can hit people whenever you want just because _**YOU'RE**_ upset?!"

"You taught most of us that you lose an argument when you use your fists and not your words! Was that a lie?!"

"What you did was wrong… I did so many rituals to keep your health up too."

"Lily's the sweetest person in the world! How dare you put your hands on her?!"

"Maybe we should let you know how it feels."

"Yeah! You hurt my prince to top things off! Lincoln's already got enough things worrying him!"

"What do you think Luna's going to say when she's back in full shape?!"

"Are you trying to tear this family apart?!"

"We don't want to be seen with you if you think it's okay to hit someone who isn't even eight!"

 **"We hate you!"**

Lincoln tried his best to ignore the arguing. Security was not called on them since so far it seemed like just a family squabble, but the teenage boy could see the look of terror in Rita's eyes. She looked ready to cry. Never in her life did she think she would see everyone in her family angry with her. Hearing them all simultaneously declare hatred against her was even more heart wrenching.

"Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln noticed his ex-girlfriend coming from the stairs, looking unsurprised by what she was seeing.

"Hey, Lincoln… What happened to you two?"

"Mom… Mom hit us both," Lincoln did not really know how else to put it. The Santiago girl did not know how to respond. Shaking the initial stun off.

"…dude, I came down here because they told me Luna's going into surgery soon," Ronnie Anne was trying to not pay the normal Loud family mobbing any mind.

"Wh-what?! Why?!" the teenage boy worriedly asked. Lily looked upset to hear this news.

"The bleeding got worse. They said they're going to have to help her or she'll just keep losing blood," Ronnie Anne said. It was either they did the surgery and helped Luna recover sooner, or they kept giving her blood transfusions and hope she would recover on her own. Sadly the second option did not seem to work thus far.

"Oh no… Hey! Guys!" Lincoln called out to his family, but they were not able to hear him no matter how loud he called. "Ugh… damn it, I can't babysit them all right now. Ronnie Anne, please watch Lily and see if you and Clyde can calm them down. I'm the reason they're fighting, so I don't think I'll be of any help."

"Of course, I'll do that. Just take it easy," Ronnie Anne insisted. Lincoln handed his youngest sister over to his ex-girlfriend, and she watched as he headed off to most likely go try and talk to Luna before her surgery, if he had the chance. Lily had a silent smile on her face.

"…Is that makeup?" Ronnie Anne quirked an eyebrow, before licking her thumb and rubbing at the supposed black eye, taking a thumb print size piece of it off. Lily was surprised she had been caught, and now appeared too afraid to do anything. "Wow… Did you really do what I think you did?"

Lily looked to the floor in shame and explained her reasoning to the best of her small vocabulary's ability. "Lily wanted to be the best aunt… Mom and dad wanted to make Lincoln and Luna sad… I wanted to help Lincoln like he always helps everyone else."

"Lily, Lincoln helps everyone because he takes everyone into consideration, and does his best to _**NOT**_ make them fight each other. That's why he's a jack-of-all-trades. He's able to keep your family together and keep them all happy. Look at that and tell me what that looks like?" Ronnie Anne pointed to the Loud sisters still practically digging into their mother. Clyde was starting to peek his head out of hiding now.

"They all look mad, and mom and dad look… sad?" Lily guessed.

"Yeah. You want to be like Lincoln, right? Well you need to stop this before it gets even more violent… You want to be the best aunt, right? You have to start by being a good sister first." Ronnie Anne explained. Lincoln was not able to stop this situation. It might be too far out of control to remotely stop. Lily nervously nodded, looking at the mess she had caused. She needed to try and do something before a great war erupted. She wiped away the makeup the best she could, taking in a breath and mentally preparing herself.

 **"Lily's going to be the best sister, and the best aunt ever!"**


	16. Apologies

Luna found herself half-awake in the intensive care unit. She wanted to get up, but felt too weak bring her legs off the bed, too weak to even make her arms pick up the blanket draped over her. She felt lonelier than ever before. A small pole was attached to the back of her bed that had two blood bags hooked up next to the IV.

 _"Am I dying…?"_ Luna mentally wondered. She was hoping she would feel better after the baby was born, sadly she somehow felt even worse now that they were born. She would be terrified she was in some strange purgatory if not for the occasional nurses around checking up on her.

"Miss Loud?"

She turned her head over to the doctor at the doorway.

"What's up, doc?" Luna weakly coughed, seeing the doctor approach and give a quick look over at her vital signs. So far she was stable.

"I came to tell you that you will be going to surgery in five minutes," the doctor stated, merely letting her know that the time was ticking by faster then she thought.

"…I'm really bad right now, aren't I?" Luna hesitantly asked. She could feel her body's internal turmoil right now. The constant pain from her lower body did little to help her relax, even with the painkillers.

"I'm not going to lie to you, Miss Loud," the doctor paused, hating to explain it, "while we have some of the best surgeons in the country here, one of which will be the one to operate on you, there is a chance you can die."

"How big of a chance?"

"Li-Lincoln? Hey there," Luna gained a small smile immediately upon seeing her brotherly lover at the door. He had arrived just in time to ease her anxiety.

"That's a relief. I was worried none of your family would show," the doctor coughed, letting the teenage boy get beside Luna's bedside.

"To answer your… or rather _**HIS**_ question, there is a thirty percent chance your body could go into shock, or that you may suffer a heart attack due to the high blood pressure," The doctor finished explaining. Even after the medical team's many efforts to lower Luna's blood pressure, it had barely any effect.

"Thanks, Doctor Daren… Can I be alone with Luna a minute?" Lincoln requested.

"Of course. The surgical team will arrive shortly, so please, expedite the conversation," on that note the doctor left them alone, letting the door to the room close behind him. Luna had no time to even say anything before Lincoln gave her a large hug, and she gladly returned the embrace to the best of her ability.

"I was worried nobody would come," Luna said. She did not think she would be this awake after the major blood loss.

"I'm sorry. I was caught up looking at our daughter," the teenage boy apologized.

"Heh… thanks for that, really," Luna smiled, her gratitude being top notch, "I couldn't remember what the gender was… I-is she okay?"

"She's doing great. They have to keep her in the NICU until her lungs get stronger. …You really gave us a scare, you know that?" Lincoln claimed. His sisterly lover looked more relieved to just know the baby was alright, despite the early birth. It did hurt to know that neither of them would be able to go near her without protective gear to make sure she wouldn't get sick, and even then to the young boy, it was not worth it since he would not be allowed to hold the newborn even once.

"Sorry, little bro… heh… I imagine everyone's watching her like she was a baby panda in a zoo?" Luna felt her brotherly lover hold her hand.

"I wish it was just that. Right now, everyone's tearing into mom, because she… I'll tell you once you get out of surgery," Lincoln sighed. Telling her this information would just add even more stress. After that near-death experience due to stress being a key factor, he knew Luna would not want that.

"What'd she do? Come on, Linc… Don't leave me hanging on this," Luna requested. She could only imagine it was a very terrible thing that had transpired at Rita's hands, if everyone of their siblings were getting onto her about it.

"I'll make you a deal, Luna. When you come back from surgery and wake up, I'll tell you then. How's that sound?" Lincoln offered, gaining a chuckle from his child's mother.

"You're cruel…"

"Hey, the more reasons you have the comeback, the better the surgery'll go," he reassured.

"…okay, you're cruel, **_AND_** sweet."

"Sure am! …I think I have a name for our baby. You wanna hear it before you hear everyone else's? I'm sure they've thought up hundreds by now," Lincoln asked. Luna went a little wide eyed. They had never even come up with a name for their daughter. She felt a little embarrassed to have this slip her mind.

"'Course," Luna nodded, "What'cha got in mind?"

"I was thinking maybe Ligala would fit her?" Lincoln answered, "A doctor gave me the idea over some word she mentioned…"

Luna thought over this for a minute.

"Ligala Loud… I like it. Once again you solved a problem I didn't even know I had yet," Luna laughed, more than happily agreeing to the name. There was a silence between them afterwards. The light of sunset shimmering through the windows brought a bittersweet atmosphere to the room. "Lincoln… Can you promise me something?"

Lincoln glared. "If you want me to promise to take care of Ligala no matter what happens to you, I'm going to get mad."

"What? Why?" Luna was surprised, "Is that really too much to ask for?"

"I'm not going to be alone on this. You hear me, Luna? You're going to come back, because she needs us both more than anyone else in this world," Lincoln declared. Luna did not know whether to feel relieved or not, but she nodded, grateful for the optimism.

"Alright… I promise I'll be back, Lincoln," she reached an arm up behind his head, pulling him close. He could see the fear in her eyes, for her wellbeing, his future and their child's. Their lips locked, passionately, after a short exchange Luna felt something warm and wet on her face. When she opened one eye, she saw his eyes closed tight with tears escaping the corners of them and going down his cheeks, before they fell onto her.

"Lincoln, are you okay?" Luna broke apart from him.

"It's just… this day has been the most hellish nightmare I have ever been a part of, and I want to wipe the bad parts away… I hate myself for knowing the happiest day of my life is going to also be one of the most torturous for not just me, not just you, but our whole family…" Lincoln explained. He was an emotional wreck today. He had broken down so much, that it couldn't be long until his next breakdown happened at this rate.

"Lincoln… You always think about others before yourself. You really have to sometimes treat yourself to the rewards you've earned and worked hard for. Just t-try and think of all you have done today. All you've done these last few months are for our futures," Luna tried to calm him down. He had to grow up this last near year for the sake of their family, yet she knew she could never understand how emotionally shredded her only brother was.

"I wouldn't be me without any of you… That's why I'll always put everyone first before me," Lincoln repeated his beliefs. If that was how he felt, his sisterly lover was not going to argue, but she could tell the plea for him to ease up on it was heard loud and clear.

"Pardon me," one of the nurses stepped up, clad in their scrubs. "It's time to take you to the O.R so we can begin the operation."

"Oh, of course…" Lincoln sadly nodded. For only five minutes, Lincoln felt like they had been here for hours.

"Let's go then. The sooner we get there the sooner I can come back," Luna grinned. The teenage boy was happy to hear those words. He watched as another two nurses arrived and begin to get Luna ready.

"I'll see you when you wake up, Luna," Lincoln promised.

"I hope I'll be able to see Ligala with you," Luna smiled.

"I love you, Luna…"

"I love you, too," Luna was then taken away in her hospital bed.

"…I don't know what to do now," Lincoln sat down in the floor of the now rather empty room. Pain overtook his head and heart. He remained in the floor, trying to gather his thoughts. Oblivious to the fact that they both had been watched throughout that entire interaction.

* * *

"See? See?" Lily spoke, outside the room with the Loud family, Ronnie Anne and Clyde. The youngest Loud sibling had managed to get them all upstairs after she had faked her own crying fit to gain their attention again. From there she had to apologize for what she did, and asked them to come to see Luna just so they would be able to see her and Lincoln's interactions before she would be taken away, according to Ronnie Anne.

"It's… like they never knew they were siblings," Rita solemnly commented. The mother of the Loud family had gained a good few bruises from that mobbing. The blonde woman could not believe how well those two synced up as a couple.

"I realize my life has gone crazy when watching two of my children kiss is a high point of my day," Lynn Sr. Commented, rubbing his temple, missing his old days when nothing was dramatic or strange.

"I still can't believe what you did, Lily," Lynn had to comment. It was pretty evil, but clever. "You sure lived up to our Loud genetics."

"I'd say we need to think of a way to punish you, but… mom still went too far with hitting Lincoln," Lori sighed. It was more than a fair trade. Nobody regretted the mobbing they had done to their mother, and now nobody wanted to focus on anything but Luna at the moment. They probably would not have known what their mother did if it was not for the lie that caught their attention to begin with.

"Mom?" Leni watched as Rita went into the hospital room. She hated seeing the terrible sight of her son knelt on the floor and nearly in tears. She approached him, but he, unable to register his environment or surroundings, did not even look at her.

"Lincoln, honey, I'm sorry for all you've had to put up with this last year," Rita helped him out of the floor.

"You are?" Lincoln's eyes barely looked to her, "But I thought…"

"I don't blame you for not even trying to tell us until now. The way I reacted was terrible. It's really nice to know your sisters are here for you and each other. I understand if you can never forgive me for what I did," Rita then pulled Lincoln into a hug. His response though was his choked sobs, and she understood why. The last year of his life had been building up to one erupting point, and today it had been blowing out, one piece at a time.

"Come on. Let's go to the waiting room," Rita began to guide him along to the rest of their family outside, who greeted him.

"Lincoln, come on cheer up."

"Yeah! Luna is going to be fine."

"You two looked so sweet together."

"It was really adorable!"

"Dry up those 'waterworks'."

"Luan, it's nice that you try, but you have to learn timing. Really!"

"I suppose this will make for a good ending note for this phase of my research study."

"I'm still proud to see you be so responsible, son."

"Bro, come on. Don't break down on us."

"They're all right, Lame-o," Ronnie Anne smiled, "Not only have you got Luna to be strong for, but also that little girl of yours."

Lincoln was glad to have so many here to support him, with how seemingly things had calmed down. He did his best to give them all a hug.

 ** _"Thank you guys so much… I owe you all for everything you've done for me!"_**


	17. Recovery

**Authors note: Thank you all for the 25k views, this is the second to last chapter (not counting epilogue.) I have an important question to ask you on the last chapter, this is Fallen Pens, dropping out.**

It had been a week now since Luna's surgery. The Loud house was abuzz with the sound of alarm clocks ringing, trying to awaken everyone. The rest of the family, except Lincoln, had been forced to head home due to how long Luna was in hospital.

 _ **"Wake up! Wake up!"**_ Lily excitedly cooed while bouncing on her parents' bed.

"We're up, honey! You're just bouncing on us," Rita groaned, her stomach feeling sore from being a personal trampoline.

"And I thought five alarm clocks going off in each room was enough to wake us up," Lynn Sr. rubbed his head. The alarms were giving him a headache the size of the continent. Lily had made herself the routine to wake up earlier than everyone else, and then wake the rest up just so she could go to the hospital sooner. nobody blamed her. The house felt emptier without two of the family members in it.

"Okay, Lily, they're up. You can wind down now," Leni yawned, taking the little blonde haired toddler off their parents' bed.

"Thanks, Leni... We'll be down in a minute. Can you get breakfast set up?" Rita requested.

"Right away," Leni left the room and closed the door behind her, Lily snug in her other arm.

"Are we already going?" Luan peeked her head out of the doorway, while brushing her hair. having a room alone was a lot more depressing than she could ever realize. Not having Luna's music for even a single day was not an experience she could adapt to.

"Just going to make breakfast... Lily's excited to see how they're doing too," Leni explained. The hospital had informed the family that were up and down for Luna and their baby's condition. Luna had battled hard for her body's recovery. it got better one day and worse the next. As the battle raged on, the family's anxiety was wearing thin.

"I can't get any answer from Lincoln or Luna either," Lori stated while she was downstairs, where the others were coming down from the stairway. Lori always woke up a little earlier than them, she had been taking a personal vacation from work until this all calmed down. She sighed as she put away her cellphone. This lack of response was worrying their family, but they tried to brush it off as the incestuous couple sleeping in, they knew the hospital would call one of them if something was wrong. Lily was looking more worried than the rest.

"Alright, let's get breakfast and then we'll check up on them!" Lana declared. Silence fell on the family as they exchanged looks. Lori could already tell what everyone was going to ask. She sighed, not even letting them ask.

" _'Sigh.'_ Fine... Go get dressed. I'll get my keys."

* * *

Lincoln felt very relieved, he was walking his way through the hospital hall while carrying two trays of food. He had barely gotten any sleep in the last week, and he knew he would be needed a lot more now by his dearest loved ones, but he never anticipated exactly how much they would need him. Lincoln gave a bright smile as he entered the all too familiar hospital room.

"G'morning, Luna."

"Hey, Lincoln. Took you long enough, I'm starving!" Luna warmly welcomed him back. In her arms was their daughter, she was contently drinking a bottle of formula.

"It looks like you're both starving," the teenage father joked, resting the trays of food on the small table. Ligala had been released from NICU two days ago, and seemed to now have an unending supply of energy. She almost never left her parents' arms.

"Still won't take the 'natural way', will she?" Lincoln sat down by the hospital bed.

"She just won't go for it... I'll put up with the extra weight for a while," Luna rolled her eyes and shrugged. She handed the newborn over to her father, and he happily took her into his arms. Ligala wore a yellow onesie that had a happy sun sewn onto the front of it. Leni had knitted it for them as a personal gift for when the newest Loud got out from intensive care. Unfortunately when it looked like they weren't getting out for a while, she gave the gift to them early.

"Hey, Ligala. How are you feeling this morning?" Lincoln asked his daughter, letting his sisterly lover have her breakfast. He continued to feed the baby their bottle, slowly. Ligala had her tiny hands on his one hand.

"Heh... I'll take that as a 'I'm feeling great'." the teenage boy rarely had nothing short of that big smile on his face now. He looked to his sister, watching her gorge down the tray of food. The hospital did not have the best food to offer its patients, but Luna wasn't picky currently.

"Hey, Luna, are you feeling any better or worse today? I know this last week has been a roller coaster for you..."

"I'm actually able to stand on my own again, so I'm feeling pretty great," Luna claimed with her mouth full of food.

"Really? That's great news! What got you out of bed?" he happily asked. Any doctor or nurse would not allow her out of bed, not even for a simple bathroom trip. The same day after surgery, she collapsed a dozen or so times, no matter how far she moved.

"Ligala was cranky and her mommy couldn't stand to hear her cry," Luna claimed in a lighter tone. When her child's father was asleep in the middle of the night, their daughter was refusing to sleep once again. When she began crying. The growing rock star forced her body to move. It was more painful than she wished to remember, and the nurses scolded her afterwards.

"I invited Ronnie Anne and Clyde over... They said they'd be here soon," Lincoln stated. Ligala finished the bottle, he put it aside before hoisting her up and letting the her rest her white-haired head on his shoulder, as he patted her back.

"To talk about this... ' _Thing'_ again?" Luna asked, putting the then empty first tray aside and getting his second one.

"Hey, that one's mine!" the teenage boy said, but in response, Luna made a sad puppy dog expression. Lincoln's one weakness that his entire family would gladly use against him.

"Fine, fine, you can have it... I'll get another one later," the teenager gave in, feeling Ligala drooling on his shoulder. He sighed, letting his daughter do as she pleased. Lincoln had never felt more complacent in his life until today, but he welcomed it.

"You're the best, Linc!" the guitar player dug in once more.

"But yeah, Luna, they're going to come talk with us about this... ' _Thing'_ again. We can't hide any of it from the two of them today," Lincoln explained. The last few times his best friends had been over, they had never had any privacy to discuss it since their entire family was at the hospital at the same time. Ligala was passed around by the Loud family like she was a weird game toy. That alone got annoying for them quite fast.

"I still can't believe you didn't fight me about it..."

"I still can't believe you took a month to realize you were pregnant in the first place."

"Low blow, bro!"

"High note, sis?"

"Can you get me another plate? I'm starving."

"I think you've had enough for now..."

"Please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

 **"Ah-hem,"** a cough from Ronnie Anne, who stood at the doorway, stopped their argument short. She was clad in purple jacket and jeans, and to Lincoln's surprise, her hair this time was not up in a ponytail.

"O-oh hey, Ronnie Anne," Lincoln sheepishly greeted her, feeling embarrassed that they had their playful banter watched without them even noticing. He noted that it was now becoming common.

"Whew... I hate stairs," Clyde coughed, walking in behind the Santiago girl. He was more exhausted from the long rush over to the hospital earlier. Ligala was nuzzled into her father's chest, and he gladly cradled her in his arms. Lincoln hoped his daughter would be this content often, but he doubted his wishes would be granted.

"Glad to see you both doing better," Ronnie Anne said as she and Clyde approached the other two.

"Or should we say the three of you," Clyde smiled. He saw how his best friend was in this hospital for so long that it made him seem like just another patient, one that was suffering from sleep deprivation.

"Ha ha, very funny," the lone Loud boy shook his head with a faked laugh.

"We brought you a present," the Santiago girl hummed, reaching into her bag on her back and pulling out a rectangular box. Luna's eyes lit up with excitement upon seeing it.

"You know, my sisters are severe choc-a-holics... Guess that's one way to make her feel even better," Lincoln was not too surprised, but wondered why he didn't think of that sooner, though he could tell that was not a gift for both of them; Luna was eating a quarter of the box's contents in mere minutes.

"Sheesh. She's like a shark," Clyde commented.

"She'll need to eat more for a little while longer until her body gets normal again," the middle Loud child repeated what doctors had told them. Even if the baby was out of his sister, her body was going to take a while to readjust itself.

"Do you wanna say hi, Ligala?" Lincoln asked their daughter. Ligala yawned, minorly stretching. Ronnie Anne was more than happy to hold the newborn baby.

"Hey, Ligala! It's auntie Ronnie Anne. Are you happy to see me?" the Santiago girl cooed, not expecting a response. She continued rocking Ligala in her arms since she doubted the infant would be wanting to do much more beyond sleep during the day and wreak havoc during the night. Lincoln found the sight of his ex bonding with his newborn adorable.

"So you guys wanted to talk with us about something?" Clyde chimed in, wanting to know more since things were pretty vague, Lincoln put the lid back on the chocolate box before Luna could finish everything in it and took it away.

"Aw, man!" the rock lover was disappointed, but she knew she might be eating way too much for herself now.

"We really need someone else's opinion on this... problem we're having, and I couldn't think of anyone more honest than you two," Lincoln explained. Ronnie Anne returned the baby to her mother to let the two rest together.

"Sure, dude. I'll do anything if I can help," Clyde accepted.

"Alright, Lame-o. What is it you and Luna need to talk about?" Ronnie Anne asked. It was a matter that the sibling couple had been keeping private from her and Clyde, as well as their entire family. She would be mad if the couple chose to delay it longer.

"You see, I've been spending most of my time looking at houses or a temporary apartment until there's a good looking house available," Lincoln explained while rubbing his eyes tiredly. He had spent his late nights doing just that. His hopes that it would be easy were crushed by the difficulty of finding that great house they would be happy with.

"What are you doing that for? Did your family finally tear apart the house?" Ronnie Anne questioned, not too surprised. The Loud house may have needed repairs a hundred times or so because of their antics. The house was old, so a large family naturally resulted in accident after accident.

"No, our house has been pretty stable this year. The only thing that broke is the garage door because one of Lily's toys got stuck between the sides," Luna claimed with a shrug. That reply did little to lower the confusion.

"We're looking for a place for **us** to live... And by **us** , I mean just me, Ligala and Luna," Lincoln moved the chocolate box further away when he saw his rock lover sister subtly attempt to reach a hand for them.

"Oh... Dude, are you really saying what I think you're saying?" Clyde asked. It seemed hard to believe what they were hearing.

"We've talked about this a lot since we got taken out of ICU," Luna said. Ligala let out a yawn before nuzzling into her mother's chest. She was a lot less active than Lily was when she was first born, yet somehow far more active when night came.

"You want to move out?" Clyde was worried now, "I mean, it's great news and all... But why? Did your parents go back to not being happy about the baby?"

"I'm sure your sisters would gang up again to deal with them if they did," Ronnie Anne smirked, still enjoying when Rita got what she deserved after hitting her ex-boyfriend. She knew it would have been worse if Lily truly had bruises instead of makeup on her.

"I... I feel terrible to say this, but you see, our parents didn't really raise the younger half of our family. Our older sisters did. Even then, I got ganged up on so often for a lot of pathetic reasons," Lincoln began looking depressed to even be confessing this. His gratitude knew no ends for his family, but his remorse for them was on par. For every happy moment, there was a couple of saddening moments to counteract it.

"So what?" Ronnie Anne requested him to continue. Luna could not finish this for him because she couldn't begin to fathom how much emotional insanity he had put up with from the whole family, she hated knowing she had a hand in it as well.

"C'mon man you can trust us," Clyde reassured.

"... I want to be the one to raise my daughter. Just me, Luna, and nobody else. I want her to be her and nobody else. Even just imagining three of them cornering her if she did something wrong makes my blood boil," Lincoln finished. His sisters had a lot of influence over each other. For every fight they had, their parents rarely did a thing about it; they said that the rest of the Loud children had to fix it themselves usually.

"Jeez... What do you think, Luna? If you two've talked about it, that means you're at least agreeing on one of these things," Ronnie Anne wondered. This came off more like a moment for the two lovers to vent their woes to ease their anger or emotional troubles.

"Linc's... He's right. I don't want mom, dad, Lori, Leni... Heck, anyone to raise Ligala but us. I don't care if I'm going to be busy. I swore to take care of her with just Lincoln by my side, he's given up so much for us on top of that," Luna exclaimed. Lincoln had done so much for her and their child this last year. Agreeing with him was the least she could do in thanks for his sacrifices.

"We know you two will be able to take care of her perfectly... But do you really want her to not be with all of her aunts?" Ronnie Anne wanted this to be rhetorical, but found that somewhat impossible to do now or else it might make things more annoying.

"The only real way for you guys to not have your family involved in any way is to literally just vanish without a single trace, 'cause they'll force their way in." Clyde continued. It seemed like a ridiculous thing, but he knew parenthood love could drive people to do anything needed if they thought it was best for their offspring.

"...We know," the couple both said before they looked to Ligala.

"I mean... Your house is getting pretty cramped. Adding another baby there would just take up more space," Ronnie Anne nodded in understanding.

"And then your sisters would still want your attention. Especially the younger ones," Clyde added, aware of how selfish that Lola could get. The rest would still want attention or notice from Lincoln. It could lead to some form of rivalry. That chain of thinking did not help any of them.

"Being on the middle of the fence sucks," Lincoln held his head, "Especially when you're the middle child of that fence."

"What would you do about school though, Lame-o?"

"I just need to qualify for an Under 18 waiver and I can go get my GED... I considered dropping out, but I didn't want to give Ligala any bad impressions of her dad when she got older," Lincoln smiled, rubbing his daughters head.

"I've heard of planning for the future, but that's planning for someone else's, future don't you think?" Clyde jokingly said.

"I'm not going to knock him for finishing his education. I know he can do it," Luna smiled. It would cut ahead on some time, too.

"Well... All I can say is you guys should do it, if you think it's right," Ronnie Anne shrugged. That was the best advice to offer for any of them at this point in their life.

"Thanks, you guys..." Lincoln sighed, "We're not gonna do anything for the first month, just so we can make sure they're both alright."

Luna chuckled lightly. "Lincoln, you're too sweet."

"Are you just saying that so I'll give you back the chocolates?"

"No..."

"Luna..."

"Maybe..."

"Be honest now. You don't want Ligala to think lying is good, do you?"

"Nooo..."

"Then be honest, Luna, and I might give you them."

"I want the chocolates... Please?"

Ronnie Anne and Clyde could not help but laugh seeing these two's interactions, it was an adorable exchange to them. Just then, the sound of the door opening stopped them.

"Oh, thank goodness! We were worried!" Lori spoke as the Loud family entered the room, though they had left their parents behind in the rush off during their worry for their siblings.

"Why didn't you answer your phones?" Lucy asked. The Loud siblings seemed to barely register Ronnie Anne and Clyde's presence.

"Because we wanted to spend some peaceful time with our child," Luna replied. She was at least trying to enjoy their time peacefully, whether or not it was bonding they were not sure.

"I didn't get much sleep because of her, too," Lincoln added. Not that he minded the two's truths being combined to cover up what they had planned to begin with. He knew that they could trust his best friends with the secret.

"You three look like you're always ready to take a picture," Leni had to comment. Every second they saw the rather new family, they looked like they were posing for an oil painting to be done for them.

"A _'picture'_ perfect trio," Luan gained a round of groans, but they brushed it off and went to Luna's bedside, or rather surround her bed.

"Has she eaten yet?"

"Can I feed her?"

"Are you feeling better Luna?"

"She looks very pure."

"Ligala looks strong for a baby. Maybe she'd be good at sports one day?"

"I highly doubt that. I dare say she'll be as intelligent as me once she's old enough to begin comprehending simple knowledge."

"I don't know... I think she'd like helping me work on my fashion designs."

"Hey, are those chocolates?!"

"Can we have some?"

"No way! They're mine!"

"Not a chance! They're mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

As if on cue, Ligala began crying from the Loud noises and grouping around her. Luna took in a deep breath and sighed while giving everyone of their family members an irritated glare. Despite their apologetic innocent faces they put on, the equally annoyed Lori began to scold them all. Lily was more focused on trying to help console Ligala.

"Just one month Lincoln... One month, and you can focus on the bigger things in life," Lincoln mentally repeated to himself. Ronnie Anne and Clyde patted his back. They now saw exactly why Lincoln had to leave with his new family. All of this unintentional ganging up was going to cause nothing but trouble. Lincoln looked up to them both, apologetic.

 _"Sorry that we're going to do this to any of you... We have to do this for Ligala."_


	18. Without A Trace

**Authors note: Well, thank you all for 30k views. This is the last chapter (not counting possible epilogue.) I have an important message for you all at the end.**

It had been a month and a half since Luna and Ligala had been released from the hospital. That time frame had probably been some of the most relaxed times in the Loud house. Everyone welcomed the new member of the family. It was an especially heart-warming sight for them to see Lincoln and Luna as parents, who had begun sharing a room. Lincoln had given up his own room to Lily, and had moved into Luna and Luan's room. The comedian did not mind having her brother and his daughter in the room, the more the merrier.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Lori asked as she drove the van. So far it had been a normal Saturday until she got a phone call from Lynn and Lucy. They claimed they had a good idea in their minds. The oldest Loud wound up picking them both up from their separate tasks.

"Luan was joking about it yesterday," Lucy shrugged, not entirely sure herself. This was supposed to be a surprise party, even if it was in the spur of the moment.

"It sounds pretty perfect to me! I think celebrating them getting better is a great way to keep everyone happy," Lynn explained. Luna and her daughter had gone to the doctors twice in this one week for separate tests. All of them came back without any problems; except Luna received a bit of a depressing note, being warned that if she planned on having anymore children, that it would be dangerous and require a C-section.

"You just know I'm weak when pizza is involved," Lori could not disagree with the enthusiasm. They pulled up outside of the Recardia Record Company. They had not been here often though they knew something was different along the way to the front door. They had fancy posters the many musical stars that had started out at this record label, Luna herself included.

"Wow… that looks… _Really accurate,_ " Lori commented upon seeing the poster depicting Luna carrying several guitars in her arms with two amplifiers on her back, metaphorically showing her rise to fame.

"Whatever. Let's get Luna and go," Lucy insisted. She could not tolerate the various types of music altogether at one time, it did not do any favors for her mood. They had to pick up their sister for this surprise celebration after all.

"Right, right," the short blonde haired Loud nodded. They knew the security and a lot of people here by now, so they were able to get in without a problem.

* * *

After a brief few minutes, they had made their way upstairs to where the recording rooms were. The record label was bustling today, both guests and workers alike going through the difficulty of upgrading their audio equipment.

"Luna! Hey, are you here?!" Lynn called out, not caring about how many heard. For her it seemed like the quickest way to look through the floor.

"Maybe we should just find her boss?" Lucy suggested.

"It'll save us the trouble," Lori shrugged. The three Loud sisters headed right for the owner's office. It seemed like their lucky day since the security guard on duty let them go in. The record company owner was not busy. The three sisters figured though that the older man rarely got a moment of rest either.

"Oh, hello there! Some of the Loud sisters come to pay me a visit?" Recardia Smith Sr. happily greeted the trio. The office had an odd black and white checker pattern theme to everything, from the rug that was confusingly misplaced on the ceiling, to the chairs resting around the similar desk.

"Sorry, sorry, we didn't want to bother you but we came to pick up Luna… We're planning a surprise for her, but we can't find her, we were hoping you could tell us where she is," Lori explained apologetically. Her work uniform made her look to be Luna's lawyer rather than her sister. The oldest Loud had planned on changing once they got home.

"This building's a lot more chaotic than usual," Lynn added. They had been here before, their entire family had been in fact, but never fully together. It did not stop them all from making their separate impressions on the record label owner.

"Luna? Sorry, but she asked to have the week off…" Recardia claimed, "She's also requesting to do more of her own independent work outside of the studio, so she can be with her daughter… not that it's a problem, we just gotta give her the equipment and…"

"She wanted to have the week off? She didn't say anything about that…" Lori murmured while rubbing her cheek.

"Home is a place where your spirit resonates the strongest," Lucy claimed in her own weird way. It made sense for Luna to want to begin working from the luxury of home. It seemed more comfortable and being near her daughter was a lot more alleviating, since every time Luna had come home, she was exhausted and clearly anxious.

"Alright, change of plan. Let's just call up mom and dad to have them get Ligala to meet us there. Luna's probably with Lincoln so we can just get him to help lead her to the pizza shop," Lynn decided. Since she was released from the hospital, Ligala was taken care of by the Loud parents. They were more than happy to be of help with their grandchild.

"I'll call Lincoln second… Just in case he is busy being mobbed by puppies again," Lori got out her cellphone, calling her parents first as the three left the office while Recardia began rambling to himself, practically zoning out his guests.

* * *

"Hello?" Rita answered.

"Hey, mom! Remember that surprise celebration we had in mind for the clean bills of health?" Lori replied to her mom as they got outside of the building. The other two Loud sisters waited nearby while having their own conversation.

"Oh, yes... the one that Luan came up with on accident yesterday?" Mrs. Loud could not forget the relieving great news of her grandchild and daughter's healthy conditions after the stressful month of worry. It was nice to know she did not need to fear for anything further.

"We wanted to gather everyone up to go get pizza, but Luna's not at work… Think you can get Ligala and the rest at the house ready to come meet up with us?" Lori requested. She would try calling Luna right away, but did not want to go defeating the purpose of the surprise celebration. The Loud mother took a moment to respond.

"Lori, honey… I haven't had Ligala today, at all. Lincoln took her with him to his work. He said he wanted to see how she'd like being around all the animals," Rita replied. She paid it no mind, since that pet shop mostly had nothing beyond dogs, a few cats and hamsters on sale. There was nothing too dangerous. Lori was confused. She swore she remembered Luna talking last night about today's plans, leaving Ligala with their parents was one of those part she remembered hearing too. Nothing was making sense.

"I guess that means that they're both with Lincoln… Well, thanks mom. Get everyone ready, we'll call you and dad when we're prepared," Lori ended the call. She could tell that Lynn and Lucy were growing increasingly worried by seeing her own building concern. There was a terribly strange vibe she was getting from what she had learned so far.

"O-oh, yeah! Leni and Luan should be near the pet shop," Lori snapped her fingers. Their two other sisters were a lot closer than they were to Lincoln's place of work. Leni was off getting supplies to make new clothing with, and Luan was attempting to get new props to replace those that were broken.

"Lori, you call Luan," Lucy got out her own phone, "I'll call Leni."

"Go ahead," Lori nodded.

"I'll try to call Lincoln," Lynn hoped to get a response from their only brother. She hoped heavily that this was all a large set of coincidental misunderstandings.

* * *

"Why is it whenever I get on a roll with my jokes, someone interrupts me? The store would've given me a discount if I could make their boss laugh hard enough!" Luan was disappointed. She would have to pick up her comic props later. She and Leni had met up when they both got the phone calls. They headed to the pet store, where they had been to before to visit their brother and simply check up on him.

"I didn't even get half of what I needed. How am I going to make Ligala's dresses if I can't get the right stuff?" Leni replied. She had enjoyed making baby clothes a lot recently or resizing others when they became too small. She planned on going right back to shopping for what she needed right after they got the Lincoln and his sub-family so they could take them to that surprise celebration they had planned for them.

"Doesn't she have enough clothes? I think you've actually made everything she wears," Luan asked, just while the two were arriving to the pet store.

"Lincoln and Luna always appreciate what I make, and Ligala isn't picky," Leni nodded. Making clothes for a baby was a lot more fun than she thought it would be.

"Let's just grab them and meet up with everyone else. I'm starving," Luan insisted. When they entered the store, they saw a few people inside browsing the many animals, but not their siblings or niece.

"Oh hey, you two," Jaikun gave a wave from behind the counter. He had met all the Loud family over the span of this last near two months. Lincoln talking about them a lot made it easier to recognize them.

"Hey there!" Leni greeted, "Sorry for dropping by when you're so busy."

"Eh… you act like these people are going to buy something. They're going to look at everything, leave, then come back the next day after they decided what they wanted," the pet shop owner shrugged. If those customers were looking ready to get an animal, he would be there right now helping them and telling them every last detail they needed to know about the animal they were interested in.

"Talk about a repetitive repeat… anyways, we're here to pick up Lincoln, Luna, and their little kitty Ligala," the comedic Loud gained a pair of groans from the store owner and her sibling. It may not have been a pun, but somehow the fact that it wasn't made it hurt worse.

"Riiight…" the owner coughed, "Why're you looking for them here?"

"Our brother works here. Where else would we look but here?" Leni tilted her head in confusion. Luan caught Leni's sunglasses for her upon seeing them slip off her head and immediately put them back on her.

"Guessing he didn't announce it yet? 'Bout a week ago he quit and asked me to make him a reference letter," Jaikun elaborated. The two Loud sisters were shocked at this news. Their only brother had no reason to quit the job. He loved working for the pet store from what he told them.

"But why did he quit? And if none of them are here, _**where are they?!**_ " Leni worriedly demanded. Her comedian sister did not blame her for being upset. If what Lori and Lucy told them was right, then they were now unable to find Lincoln, Luna, or their baby.

"Said he wanted to transition to an animal caretaking business near home. He mentioned something about how someone there would help him start learning to become a veterinarian? I didn't really pay much attention after the quitting part," Jaikun exclaimed, looking more depressed over him and the animals losing one kind caretaker. He would manage fine on his own, but without Lincoln, it was going to be harder, and that feeling of slight reassurance of someone being there to help in case something went wrong was going to be missed immensely.

"There isn't any kind of animal shelter or anything near our house… This is probably the closest thing to an animal store around," Luan stated. There were some stores that did have dedicated sections for pet shopping, but they knew it was not the same to buy a dog than it was to adopt one. They doubted Lincoln would tolerate working in a supermarket either.

"Well… Thanks, Jaikun. We have to get going," Leni thanked him.

"Good luck with whatever family problems you have going on now," the store owner chuckled.

The two Loud sisters left the store, scared, but trying their best not to show it.

"L-Lincoln's gone… Luna's gone… Ligala's gone…" Leni babbled, worried, "Wh-what do we do, Luan? What if something happened to them?!"

"Re-relax, Leni! They're probably out on a date or something. It's not weird for couples to bring their children with them on a date," Luan tried to rationalize it, but in the bare blink of an eye, Leni was dialing away on her phone.

"Come on, let's just get home. You can raise your 'roaming' data on the way," Luan dragged her older sister along, while letting her make her attempts at calling Luna and Lincoln. Luan meanwhile knew to call Lori to let her know what had happened.

* * *

At the Loud house, things were not exactly calm. Those inside had quickly heard the news of their siblings and niece, they were reacting about as well as could be expected.

"I don't like this…" Lisa groaned, holding her head. She was using her laptop and had no luck so far with her attempts at finding their missing family members.

"Any luck?" Lana asked, peeking her head into the room.

"Apologies, but there are no leads. I tried tracking their location via the tracking chips I hid in their clothing, but no such luck," Lisa apologized. She did this in case something happened or if they got in trouble. Ligala being born gave Lisa the idea, and she cared little of how invasive it could be to their privacy.

"Darn it! Why would Lincoln and Luna do this?!" the frustrated Lana took her red cap off her head and threw it to the floor.

"Lily still won't come out from her room…" Lola stepped into their shared room. She looked ready to cry at the mere worry of something happening to her prince and occasional butler for tea parties.

"Come on. I'll try and help coax her out," Lana went off to help her twin. The two had been getting along slightly better ever since their niece was first born. One less fight a week was at least some improvement.

"I'm still upset that Lincoln gave her his room… We could've had it be ours! Even if we needed a bunk bed…" the spoiled Loud child complained, finding it unfair, but they could not argue against it. When a room became available, the last Loud who used it decided who got to take it over in their place. So far this only ever happened when their sisters started becoming roommates.

"Huh? Do you hear that?" Lana asked, ignoring her twin's rambling. It sounded like a weird clown horn honking. Even though it was muffled they could still hear it from the other side of Lily's door. "That sounds like… That ringtone Lincoln has set for Luan's number."

Lana used the same method most of the house abuse to enter rooms, and picked open the lock. Most locks for the rooms' doors aside from the bathroom were very easy to pick open. It only took a matter of moments being used to pick the lock with Lola's begrudgingly abused tiara.

"Lily? Are you alright?" Lana noticed their littlest sister silently crying upon entering the room, sitting at the end of the bed, tears pouring down her face as she held something close to her chest very tightly.

"Lily, is that…? Why do you have _those?_ "

"And what's that?"

* * *

It did not take long for everyone to arrive home. The Loud siblings were all in varying states of worry. They wanted to continue searching, especially when their siblings never returned their phone calls, but their parents called them back before they could even begin a real search.

"Mom! Dad! Why'd you call us back here?" Lori questioned immediately, but was confused when they saw everyone gathered up in the living room. Lily looked the most distraught.

"Wait… That's Lincoln's phone!" Lynn exclaimed, seeing the item resting on the coffee table.

"Luna's too," Lucy said. The two phones were impossible to mistake. It explained why none of their calls were answered. They then saw a blank DVD resting in an open case beside them.

"Today just keeps getting more confusing…" Leni said. Her low intelligence did little to help matters, and neither did the one long streak of confusing antics from their siblings.

"My heads just 'ringing' in agreement," Luan's pun was ignored.

"We called you back here because this DVD is addressed to us all… I didn't want to watch it without everybody," Rita stated, not entirely sure why Lily had these items.

"It might tell us where they went too," Lynn Sr. said. He watched as Lisa loaded the disc into the DVD player. They waited as the TV began to play static.

"I told you we should've bought the other camera," Luna's voice sounded. The audio was working but the video was still down.

"Well sorry. I didn't think the hundred dollars wouldn't make much difference," Lincoln's voice sounded, trying to get the video going again.

"Come on, Lincoln" Luna teased her brotherly lover, "You didn't want to pay extra for the very thing we'll use to get every precious moment of Ligala's life on recording?"

"Well… When you put it like that…" his voice trailed off.

"Garaba?" Ligala cooed out her random gibberish that she had begun spouting out more and more of as the weeks passed.

"Alright, alright, you two win… I'll get the better camera tomorrow," the teenage boy agreed. He couldn't decline the better quality that would be used to record his child's life. The video feed came up, showing Luna sitting on her bed holding Ligala in her arms, the infant reaching for the camera thinking it was a toy. Lincoln took his seat beside his sub-family.

"Okay… Where to start?" the young boy rubbed his head. According to the date, the video was recorded four days ago.

"At the beginning?"

"Very funny, honey… You're lucky I love you."

"I love you too."

Lincoln took his child from Luna's arms so he could hold her. "Okay. If you're watching this, assuming everything went according to our plan, then you know we've left without a trace and abandoned our cellphones."

"And freaking out," the rock star added. Her child's father nodded, more than aware of that probably happening.

"For the last month while Luna and Ligala were recovering, I was hunting a house for us… I found it, but we're going to have to work on it to make it a great home," he continued. The Loud family watching the video did not understand what was going on, but Rita looked upset, having a vague idea of what happened to their children and grandchild popping up in her head.

"This is kind of scaring me… Why would he be hunting for a house?" Leni asked. Lana motioned her to quiet down and just continue watching so they could get their answer.

"We know none of you will listen to us when we say that you shouldn't waste time searching for us… but… to sum things up, we moved out. We've been planning to since I first got out of surgery," Luna explained. The two Louds looked saddened to have to be even talking about this. The announcement tore into the Loud family's hearts.

 **"WHAT?!"** Lori was shocked, just like everyone else at the news. Lynn Sr. pulled his upset wife to his side, whose sorrow started from her fears being confirmed.

 _"No…"_ Lucy looked ready to faint.

"I-I'm imagining things… Right?" Leni stuttered. No answer.

"This is _**NOT**_ a funny joke…" Luan murmured, unable to bring herself to make a pun.

"We had to leave. That way we can take care of Ligala and raise her in a place that's safe for her with a calm environment… As calm as we can make it anyway," Lincoln finished, his daughter giggling when he tickled her chin.

"It isn't safe to keep her around you all… and we're sorry, but we want to be the ones to raise her… Not anyone else… that way, she can be herself," Luna's addition had a serious tone to it.

"What? It's perfectly safe here! What around here is dangerous for that baby?!" Lori asked the rest of their family, most not even able to understand what they meant by others raising their child in their place.

"My experiments," Lisa mused. The end of her research observatory notes on this experiment seemed nigh.

"My sports…" Lynn nervously spoke.

"My rituals."

"My props."

"Our fighting…"

"My small brain…"

 _"…My anger…"_ Lori huffed, deciding to add onto the chain of confessions with them all since they were being honest here. They were beginning to all look at mom and dad, recalling that incident where the Loud mother hit their only brother and their father being somewhat too cowardly to do anything to prevent it.

"Don't get us wrong. We love you with all our hearts, but…" Lincoln paused, and sighed, "You guys are terribly dangerous with this mob mindset of yours. The very thing I've tried to keep in control most of my life and keeping you all from tearing each other apart."

"Ganging up for even small things… I mean you guys can be sweet one second and then become monsters the next. We locked our brother out of the house on a cold rainy night! And didn't even hesitate to do it…" Luna felt guilty for recalling it, but she did not prevent those events. She was a part of it. She would never forgive herself for it, even if Lincoln told her otherwise. Those actions were deplorable to her now, and imagining their sisters doing that to Ligala later in life made her blood boil.

"That was a great week wasted being sick… It doesn't help that mom and dad don't really get involved and let our older sisters raise the younger side of our family," Lincoln mused, "Don't get too upset, because… Until Ligala's older, we're going to cut off all contact from you all for a long time, because you'd force your way into our personal lives if we didn't."

The sisters watching the video all stared in awe at how they were verbally shredded. The two new parents looked to each other. Their guilt was clear on their faces.

"We love you all and wish you the best of luck…" the couple waved on screen, _"See you around."_

And with that, the video ended.

"…Lily… Why'd you have this DVD? Why didn't you tell everyone?" Lori asked. Their youngest sister kept the phones and video secret from them by practically being locked up in her room the entire day.

"Lily wanted to be the best auntie… They told me everything… They asked me to give them to you tonight," the youngest Loud whimpered. She could feel everyone looking at her.

"And you said nothing?!"

"We could've stopped them if you told us, Lily!"

"Maybe we could've talked them out of it if we knew…"

"How long did you know?"

 **"GIRLS!"**

One stomp from their father suddenly silenced them all.

"This… this right here is what they were talking about! Look at Lily!" Mr. Loud pointed at them all. Lily was visibly shaking, upset and scared.

"Lynn…" Rita tried to calm him down.

"I'm glad they left. If you girls couldn't even try and not take out your frustrations on each other for longer than five minutes, I hate to imagine what you all might have done to that baby during your fighting!" Lynn Sr. could not stop shouting. His daughters were all surprised. They never saw the usually innocent man for a father be this angry before. It was like he had reached his boiling point.

"Dad…" Lori gulped, _"We're sorry we… "_

" **NO!** I'm _**NOT**_ hearing it! All of you need to actually **THINK** instead of trying to take it out on Lily! You should be thinking about all they said! You think we aren't upset?! Everyone is upset! Lincoln, Luna and Ligala are gone! We won't see them for who knows how long! And this kind of stuff is exactly why!"

The Loud girls were quiet now. The few who did not try and cause trouble listened with intent.

"You all go to your rooms right now, and don't even think about taking one step out until we say so!" Lynn Sr. finished, he was panting, he had ran out of breath from that angry rant. The family listened to their father, beginning to all head upstairs.

"Lana, Lily, Lisa, Lynn, and Leni you all stay please," Rita requested. That split half of the family agreed, unwilling to argue when her father had let loose his anger like he almost never did.

"Did we do something…?" Lana asked hesitantly, in front of their parents.

"A lot of things happened today and everyone is going to feel terrible for a while," Lisa stated what she knew so far, wondering if they were going to be punished. She did not care since she spent most of her time in her room either way.

"Is it because I did nothing…?" Leni mused. Lily was silent , Lynn let her youngest sister lean into her for comfort.

"No. We asked you to stay because none of you got upset and kept together, as good as you could at least." Lynn Sr. panted, beginning to cool down.

"Look… We have a lot that we're going to talk about tonight at a family meeting during dinner, so we want you to do us this favor," Rita added. Her husband handed over some money.

"Think you can go to the store and pick up some ice cream…? I think that's what we're going to need the most of right now, and don't hesitate to get a lot of it." Lynn Sr. requested. His daughters were relieved to know they were being spared of punishment.

"Come on. We should get going if we want to get back before dark," Leni insisted. Lisa and Lynn nodded, Lana trying to calm Lily down.

"Come on. Lincoln knows you'll do your best to keep us together, so dry those tears up, Lily…" Lana spoke. The youngest Loud nodded, but could not entirely stop with the crying. Lana picked her up, letting her hang onto her as they left the house.

"Honey are you okay?" Rita asked her husband who currently was leaned against the wall.

"Not at all, Rita. This has been one of the worst days of my life… I'm going to go mow the lawn or something until they get back," Lynn Sr. needed to take his mind off things. His wife could not blame him either.

"Please take care of yourselves, Lincoln and Luna… And especially take care of Ligala," Rita mentally prayed, taking the DVD out of the player and putting it back in the case, then picking up the two cellphones of her departed children and beginning to walk away, planning on putting them away. One of the phones would act as hand-me-downs for Lily once she was old enough to need one. The disc would vanish deep into the back of the Loud parents' closet, so nobody could watch it again and reignite unwanted sorrow.

 _"I'm sorry if I was a bad mother..."_

* * *

"We've been driving all day now, Luna… Are you sure you're not lost?" Lincoln was in the passenger seat of the small car they were in. Luna was behind the steering wheel. He had worked on getting his drives permit, but it would take some time before he could really get his license and get any use out of it, though that did not stop him from pitching in with Luna to acquire this used car. Neither really liked the dull black paintjob it had.

"Sorry! It's going to take some time to get used to this. I don't remember new routes well unless I go down them often… but hey, at least Ligala's enjoying the ride," Luna replied. In the middle of the back seat was a baby carrier, Ligala buckled away inside with a blanket across her. The baby was staring out of the window hypnotically at everything they passed by.

"Yeah… I still feel terrible we had to go about things this way," Lincoln confessed while looking around the scenery. They had never been to this side of Royal Woods until recently. It was very far away from their home, a sort of lucky coincidence.

"That makes two of us…" Luna sighed. They had spent the last few days secretly moving things to their new home. Lincoln did the dirty work while his lover was forced to be rather idle and act as nothing more than the driver while everyone was away from home. The two had only their desired and required items taken in secrecy, so no one would notice.

"Oh hey, this is the right way! Take the left," Lincoln's words were music to his sister's ears. She turned, gladly beginning to go down the road to this neighborhood. There were many homes here, most of which seemed like micro apartments.

"Here we are," they both felt relieved to have ended the ridiculous car ride. They both got out of the car and saw the two story house, the untamed lawn prominent within the fence. The house looked two decades old. The paint was in dire need of replacing and the metallic fence needed some rust removing treatment.

"Are you excited Ligala?" Luna asked while getting her daughter out from the car, keeping her in her carrier so the sun would not bother her.

"This is where you're going to grow up… Uh… it'll look better once we fix things up… and furnish the inside… and cut the grass… Might need a lot of weed killer too… And we'll probably retile the roof," Lincoln muttered. The location of the house and the price was too great to ignore. A little work would go a long way for them, and they did have the income to make things work.

"When you make it out that way, I might start getting lazy," Luna grinned as her brotherly lover slid the right part of the gate aside, leading them inside. It didn't take them long to get through the front door. "Wow…"

The first room they saw was pretty big. Luna was in awe. She could not tell if that was the regular size of the living room or if the lack of furniture made it seem bigger than it actually was.

"Going to take some time to get used to this," Lincoln claimed. The tons of bags and other objects containing their possessions were in the kitchen area. The last owner of the home was nice enough to leave behind an old table, which they were most likely going to throw out in the next month.

"For now, how about we take it easy?" Luna suggested, putting Ligala's carrier on the old table, the baby cooing at their new environment.

"That sounds good… Don't worry, sweetie, you'll see all of your aunts again, soon," Lincoln told his child, Ligala grabbing one of his fingers while babbling.

"I wonder what she'll turn out like?" Luna had to wonder aloud while rubbing their daughter's head.

"I have no clue and I'm anxious to find out…" Lincoln claimed. They were both content to rest on the floor for the time being and play with their daughter until they got their energy back to begin putting stuff away. The next few days would be spent talking about the plans for their home.

"I love you both," Lincoln spoke.

"I love you both more."

"I love you both way more!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah,"

"Prove it."

"Gladly!" Lincoln laughed and he pulled Luna into a hug. Ligala watched her parents playful back and forth, beginning to laugh. The Loud siblings would need time to get used to the changes in their life, but as long as they had each other, they would make things work and keep sane. Ronnie Anne and Clyde would be able to help as long as they could, even if they were currently hiding from the Loud family as well. Lincoln had realized what he forgot all that time ago… and he was glad he did.

 _ **The End...**_

 **One Night Stand? Written by: Fallen Pens.**

 **Assistant writer/proofreaders: The-Irish-Clover of deviantart, and The Loud Author.**

* * *

 **Well, that's it. My first story I've ever written is now done. Thanks for inspiring me to begin writing TLA, even if it was just for this one time, it was great to collaborate with you, I owe you a lot. Even if I did most of the work...**

 **But yeah, I hope this story was alright for you all, I worked my hardest for it these last 2 months. I apologize for any let downs, I have to ask you all though what you'd like to see from me next? I'm going to be putting up a poll on my profile where you can vote for what I do next, the poll will only be open until the 14th. I also have to ask if you'd rather the fic end here, or if I give it one more chapter in the form of an epilogue? It would most likely follow Ligala. I can't wait to hear what you all think, this is Fallen Pens, dropping out. Enjoy.**


	19. Grown up

_**Authors note: Let me just say this, I am sorry for the length, but I wanted this fic to be only 20 chapters or under it. So despite my desires, I have to make the epilogue 2 parts. Apologies, each half following different characters entirely. Also, with the first poll done, the second one is now up until the 26th. This is Fallen Pens, dropping out.**_

* * *

 ** _Epilogue chapter 1..._**

* * *

The sound of an alarm clock blared from the small two floor home, loud enough to be mistaken as multiple going off simultaneously. A tall older woman in a purple night gown walked through the home to get upstairs.

"Honey, it's time to get up!" she opened the door at the end of the hall that was already slightly ajar. The room was of decent size. A desk with a laptop rested to the side of the waterbed that took up a quarter of the space. There was a moderate amount of trash surrounding the small television, and the floor appeared to be in dire need of vacuuming and having the laundry gathered up off of it, she could see the stuffed toy Bun-Bun lying in the bed as well.

"Ligala, come on, wake up," the woman repeated to the blanket covered girl in the bed. The tired mother turned off the alarm before looking at the mirror to the left that was dangling off the closet door.

"I really have lost my morning face, haven't I?" Luna muttered while looking at herself in the mirror. She had two barely noticeable small piercings in her lower lip. She had grown, but her body had been rather unchanged over the thirteen years, at most she had grown a few inches and lost a little more weight. A lot had happened in this sub-family.

"Alright. Third time's the charm," Luna stepped back, stretched, cracked a few of her joints, before she rushed up to the water bed and jumped up, landing on it and sending out a large wave, throwing the blanket wrapped teenager to the floor with a loud thud.

"Ow! Oh gosh! It's another earthquake! _**Mom!** **Dad!**_ " the person stood up, still covered and blinded by the blanket. Luna watched her try to run in their minor fear before stumbling over the long sheet that encased her body, falling to the floor. The rock star could not help but laugh at the display, it reminded her a lot of several Halloween costumes gone wrong, both in her own family and outside of it.

"It's not an earthquake. It's just you being a very heavy sleeper again," Luna crouched down and helped take the blankets off of the still growing child underneath it.

"I got it from you!" the lighter voice girl retorted, her buckteeth showing as she spoke. She was only half of Luna's height. She had messy dark white hair that reached past her shoulders, she wore a yellow pair of pajamas. A necklace holding a small toy of a retro control stick dangled around her neck. A gift from her Father that he insisted she could use whenever she needed to calm down, or to help her think.

"Won't argue with that… c'mon, Ligala, get ready. Your dad's probably done getting breakfast prepared already," Luna often was unable to believe that the teenager before her was Ligala. She had to remind herself every week that her baby had grown up. It was something she would never get used to. Still, she was grateful that her sub-family had evolved safe and sound.

"Alright… I'll get her to be my friend today! Definitely!" Ligala gave a thumbs up. Her mother let out a sigh, not even wanting to start discussing that this early in the morning. Luna rubbed her head, messing up her hair before she left the room to allow her daughter to get ready for the day. As the white haired girl began preparations for the morning in the upstairs bathroom, she started to monologue to herself.

 _"My name's Ligala Loud. Y'know, my parents always said that if Loud is your last name, you'll make a lot of noise… They aren't wrong, and they should know what Loud is. My dad is a veterinarian and my mom's a famous rock star! They really went out of their way to teach me a lot of personal lessons, the earliest I remember them teaching me is that money isn't everything, they taught me that when I was pretty young. I don't blame them. I've seen a lot of classmates become monsters for not knowing how to control themselves, and not working hard to get what they want or be grateful for what they get,"_ she began to brush her hair, trying to get it to straighten out but barely able to.

 _"My dad told me something when I was young. He said that he found the meaning of life when he was eighteen. I don't really care for philosophy, but when he told me what the meaning was, I felt like I had to live up to that! And I've tried my hardest to do exactly that."_ Ligala threw the brush aside when that barely worked on taming her hair. She shrugged, giving up on controlling her bedhead and started brushing her teeth.

 _"It's not just so I can make my life better, but also so I can help make others lives happier. Dad told me 'Friends and Family are the true keys in life'. I've always felt like something big's been missing from my life... That's why I'm going to make friends with everyone in my school! And after that, I'll make friends with everyone I meet!... 'Sigh'. It was so easy when I was in elementary, but now, not so much… I swear it gets harder with each year I grow up,"_ Ligala rubbed her head. She just hoped things would work out better this time. She plotted to befriend one person she knew like her mind was focused on only them, and she had a whole new approach in mind planned.

* * *

Once she was changed into a yellow shirt that had white stripes going over the shoulder and spiraling around her body from there, the thirteen year old made her way downstairs, jumping from the third to last step and landing on the ground floor.

"Good morning!" Ligala called out loudly while bouncing into the kitchen.

"Morning, sweetheart. How are you feeling today?" spoke a man in his late twenties by the counter, with white hair, three strands of which quirked up. He was wearing a white medical coat.

"Mom bounced me out of the bed again," Ligala sat at the table. Lincoln chuckled in reply. He had heard that earlier. The walls were not soundproof. Feeling the whole house shake was another big giveaway.

"That's what happens when you stay up late. Plus, it's cute to see you when you're scared… no offense," Lincoln claimed. The last thirteen years had been somewhat very eventful and uneventful simultaneously. The young father focused most of his life on raising Ligala with Luna, though that decade had come and gone faster than he even realized. He had spent most of her youth learning how to take care of animals. After all the hard work had finally paid off, he was now a full blown veterinarian working at a rather medium sized clinic in town.

Lincoln rested a plate in front of his daughter that had eggs bacon and toast on it. "What do you have planned today?"

"I'm going to try and talk to Luryn, so I can invite her to go to the fair Saturday!" Ligala exclaimed brightly with her mouth full of toast. Her father did not seem too pleased at this announcement. His eyebrows raised in doubt when the familiar name was mentioned.

"I don't think trying to be friends with her is a good idea, Ligala… I'm not saying that because she's spoiled either," Lincoln leaned back in his chair, his tone making it sound like a warning to be cautious.

"Then why are you saying it?" She asked her dad. She was dull when it came to rhetoric questions or statements. Whether or not that was by intentional choice or mere accident was beyond her father's comprehension.

"Because she doesn't seem like the right type for you to be around… I mean… yeah, she's a cheerleader, but her boyfriend's supposed to be in high school. He's not supposed to be _YOUR_ grade," Lincoln explained to the best of his ability. Luryn's boyfriend was two years older than her and had the IQ of a pet pebble, resulting in him being held back quite often. The middle school cheerleader squad captain was rarely seen without him. He was in fact the one who spoiled her, according to Ligala. But that age difference and mindset was why Lincoln did not like him at all.

"Your dad might be right on this one honey. Making friends with her is about as likely as your dad growing a beard," Luna commented, entering the kitchen in a slightly damaged light-purple tank top and dark purple tattered jeans.

"Hey, I tried. It's not my fault I have dad's luck," Lincoln retorted, that smile not lowering. He got up and went to the rock star, giving her a kiss on her lips. Ligala barely paid it any mind. She would never get a wink of sleep if she cared about seeing how often her parents liked making out. The teenage girl unhooked the joystick from her necklace, beginning to click in the side buttons while moving it around. She did this whenever she needed to think or when she was anxious.

"I still have to try though… I bought the tickets and everything," Ligala exclaimed, trying to get back onto the main conversation top, her joystick clicking loudly with each slight tap of the button or slide of the controller.

"Well… As long as you know what you're doing and have a plan, I won't argue," Lincoln replied after he broke his loving embrace with Luna, both were pretty energetic today, but nothing compared to their daughter's eagerness to what she was planning.

"You better get going. The bus should be here soon," Luna added. Ligala looked at the time. She groaned, putting the joystick back on her necklace. She made a mental note to try and fix her sleep schedule.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! I love you!" she gave a rushed goodbye, putting the rest of the food between the last of the toast, before taking her backpack by the door and darting off, barely letting her parents get the chance to reply and say that they loved her.

"If only she had been like that when she started school in the first place," the veterinarian let out a sigh, remembering his daughter's youth and raising her. Things were a lot different than he expected them to be. When Ligala started growing, she seemed to be shy and scared of everything. One day, when she became ten years old, that trait took a whole half-turn. Why it happened was unknown to him or Luna, they never knew if it was a good or bad thing either.

"I've gotta head to the record company today," Luna stated, going past her husband and beginning to brew herself a cup of coffee.

"Why's that?" the young man raised an eyebrow. She rarely had to do anything at the company anymore. Usually everything she did was over the computer, mostly due to the ridiculous drive across town.

"Recardia Sr. has great news for me. Said he wanted to tell me in person because it wouldn't be as good over the phone," the rock star shrugged, not entirely sure herself. She came over and took a seat beside her lover and put her hand in his. Lincoln smiled, looking down at their hands whose gold bands touched against one another. The siblings never had a chance to get married legally, but Luna found it to be the sweetest thing when Lincoln got the wedding rings to pretend otherwise.

"I hope it's not a good news and bad news deal," he muttered. Usually whenever someone had great news with him, it had a bad side. It was how things were at the clinic he operated within when giving pet owners or animal lovers news.

"Nah. The old dude would never pull that kind of junk on anyone. He's too nice," the rock loving Loud claimed with confidence. Her brotherly lover saw no point in objecting. Recardia Smith Sr. had long since proven his worth in his eyes by giving Luna the opening path to achieve the very dream she had spent most of her life working to obtain.

"Speaking of nice… I wanted to talk to you about… _you know_ …" Luna started with a sweet, lustrous tone, but this instantly seemed to frustrate her significant other.

"No way," he replied, with a stern tone. For the last year and a half she had been wanting to have a second child, and at least three times a week brought it up to him. He refused without a seconds thought, and he refused to even have any real intercourse with his sister unless it was a safe day.

"What?" she looked upset at how quick she was shot down, "Why not?

"Because I love you," he simply said.

"That sounds like a reason _to_ do it…" Luna pressed further, "I mean… you're perfect with Ligala. Why not a second run through? She'd be a great big sister."

"Don't you remember what happened to you when having Ligala? Those agonizing few weeks that almost _**KILLED**_ you?"

"You know it was just the stress that nearly did me in," Luna persisted, "It kicked my blood pressure through the roof. It's been over a decade since then, too! I'm sure my body will handle carrying a baby again."

Lincoln got up to put the dirty dishes away in the sink. "What if it's twins? Or more?"

"Then I'll just have to be even lazier," the guitarist answered. Lincoln sighed, shaking his head. Even with Ligala helping them with raising a child, he was too scared that it would harm Luna's health again.

"I'm going to go to work, Luna… Sorry for being selfish, but I don't want to lose you. We promised to see our family with Ligala, **_TOGETHER_** , when she turned eighteen," Lincoln repeated the promise they had made to their daughter when she was tiny, not that Ligala had any recollection of it. Luna remembered it, though she did wish they had been able to keep some form of contact with the other Loud family members. To avoid them searching for them, they had no choice but to cut off all contact from them. The two had not even told their only daughter the truth about her parents incestuous relationship, they planned on it to be brought up around the time she turned eighteen as well.

"Lincoln, you're the least selfish person in the world... But, alright…" Luna deeply sighed

"I hope you have a good day, Love ya."

"Love you too, take it easy," Lincoln smiled and left on that note. His sisterly lover stayed seated, looking slightly depressed.

"There's gotta be something I can do to convince him… I'll worry about that once I get back," Luna got up. She needed to get going if she wanted to get to the record label before lunch. But she was unable to resist punching their bedroom door.

 _"I hate my body for being so damn weak…"_

* * *

Ligala arrived to the bus stop at the end of the block after a short run. She thankfully seemed to be on time… unless the other several neighborhood kids at the stop had somehow all missed the school bus.

"Hey, Ligala."

"Yo, Ligz."

"Hi, Ligi."

"Laga?"

"Haha…! I get it. My names hard to pronounce," Ligala giggled. She had her breakfast still in her hands. That bacon and egg toast sandwich that she had made on the rush looked a lot more appetizing than most of her morning meals. She planned on eating it all while waiting for the bus to arrive.

"Hm?" the dark white haired girl quirked an eyebrow as her ear twitched, picking up the all too familiar sound she heard often enough to recognize.

"Didn't eat breakfast today, Pausen?" Ligala turned her attention to the boy her age right behind her, who was seated on the ground waiting tiredly. Pausen was the closest school mate to her house, a little over three homes away. He was a young black haired boy with a darker complexion.

"Yeah… We didn't go to the grocery store last night so we kind of had nothing for this morning," Pausen nodded. Before he could say anything else, the breakfast toast sandwich that the Loud teenager made was held in front of his face.

"Well go on take it," she insisted. The young boy hesitantly did so.

"What about you? Aren't you hungry?" he wondered, seeing two bites taken out of a piece of the top toast. He was not going to steal someone else's breakfast if they did not eat either.

"I'll live… I'd rather not see you live up to your school name, 'raccoon'," Ligala stated. Pausen looked embarrassed at the mere mention of the nickname he had earned.

"You pop out of a trash can with a half eaten hamburger in your mouth once, and nobody ever lets you live it down," Pausen groaned, he began to eat the breakfast sandwich his schoolmate had given him. Bullies had dunked the poor young boy in a trashcan when he was a freshman, and everyone laughed and took pictures of him when he reappeared from said trashcan. Ligala was the only one who really helped him. It warmed his heart to know there were nice people in school. Ligala had made friends with everyone in her small neighborhood, whether old or young, and she did her best to help them all.

"Don't worry about it, Pausen. I've wet myself three times in class this year. People forget things sooner than you know it," Ligala reassured, the other few school students nodding and speaking out some of their own embarrassing but forgotten incidents to calm him down. They were more weirded out by how relaxed the Loud girl was about things like nothing bothered her. Yet she was so open that it was eerie.

"Thanks a lot Ligala," Pausen thanked her and the others for the uplifting talk and continued to eat away at the gift of a breakfast. After a few minutes, the bus pulled up to the stop the door and opened to let them all get on.

"Huh? Where is he?" Ligala saw no sign of her closest friend on the bus. He did not live far from her so it was unusual. She just assumed he walked to school, and she went to get her seat on the back of the bus. She hoped to try and put her plan to immediate use.

* * *

The bus arrived to the area's middle school. Royal Oaks was one of the more renowned middle school teaching establishments in the town. While the school itself was average, it was known for having no tolerance of misbehavior, while practically disowning the zero tolerance policy. The tough principal believed in holding people accountable for their actions, completely ignoring the possible students' powerful parents who would support their children in the usually false belief they could do no wrong.

"Looks like class is going to be starting late," Ligala commented as she walked the halls. It seemed like a usual Tuesday. Once a week things would usually take a little longer to start up due to the faculty hosting meetings to keep up with each other, talk about problems a lot of students would bring up and discuss plans for the upcoming week.

 _"Perfect time to go finding Luryn… And maybe Snow if he's not busy,"_ Ligala smiled and bounced off to try and find the cheerleader captain, as well as keeping her eyes peeled for her close friend who seemed eerily absent.

* * *

"Nope… She's not here," Ligala popped her head into the gym. A few schoolmates were there, taking the extra time to get a little exercise in or relax, before the school day really started. The teenage girl could see a boy and girl relaxing off to the side, enjoying one another's company.

"Oh, hey! Scarlet! Tern!" the Loud girl called to the similar aged boy and girl, rushing over to them. The young boy had thin black hair that was done up but had a fork like split to his bangs, and the girl had a beanie on covering all of her hair.

"Uh… Hey, Ligala… What are you doing in the gym?" Tern was aware of how much she disliked gyms, but she never stopped attending.

"Tern, do you really have to play dumb every time?" Scarlet rhetorically spoke, neither directly answering their schoolmate.

"I'm looking for Luryn," Ligala explained, having that pleading look for help on her face, mostly so things would be simpler, "Do you guys know where she is?"

"Why do you think we'd know?" Scarlet asked.

"Because you two are known as the most flexible people in school, and are on the same cheerleading team as Luryn. So…" Ligala answered, once again missing the point behind rhetorical speaking. Tern and Scarlet were both higher up on the cheerleading food chain. Tern was the only male cheerleader, and nobody made fun of him for it either, perhaps because of his connections to the multiple popular girls that gained him the respect.

"Probably rooting through Miss Crabbupple's classroom for her phone," Scarlet suggested that another student was making yet another attempt to get their confiscated items back. It was harder than it seemed, but many had been able to do it before, with or without the teacher's knowledge.

"Got it, thanks!" Ligala immediately left on that note. The two cheerleaders remained confused.

"How bad do you think the wicked witch is going to dig into her with her deadly voice?" Scarlet joked. The male cheerleader playfully shoved her.

"The big question mark engaging with the wicked witch yet again…" Tern laughed, referring to the Loud girl and Luryn by their nicknames. Nobody knew what Ligala's end goal was for all her friendship makings, but it confused everyone so much that no other name seemed more fitting than the big question mark. Nobody really believed her when she said that she wanted to be friends to help others as well. The fact she was one big strange mystery made her a little more known in the school.

* * *

Ligala had quickly made her way to the classroom she had been pointed toward, which was not far away. She could see someone making a mess out of the drawers, with not a care in the world about the risk that she might get caught.

"Luryn!" Ligala slammed the door open as she stepped into the empty classroom, calling out to the girl behind the desk.

"Darn it, not you again…" a harsher tone rung out, and the girl stood up from behind the desk. She was roughly Ligala's age and had her hair pulled back into a giant blonde ponytail that reached the back of her knees in length. The cheerleader captain wore so much jewelry that it was almost blinding; a dozen necklaces around her neck, eight rings on each hand and three earrings of various types in her left ear.

"Yes, me again!" Ligala replied, looking over Luryn's green shirt that had a happy white frog decal on the front of it and a light blue hair clip to help keep the blonde hair out of her face. There were four hair bands being used to keep her giant ponytail intact.

"What do you want? I'm kind of busy trying to get my phone back," Luryn growled. Ligala was focused more on the one necklace. It was the silver heart shaped locket that stuck out and clashed prominently amongst the rest. The cheerleader had been wearing it ever since they first met and it was the only one that never left her neck, unlike the other necklaces.

"Let me help! I'm good at breaking things," Ligala hopped over the desk to get to the other side. Luryn had been trying to pick the drawer open for the past ten minutes.

"And mess up my reputation? No way," the blonde haired girl scoffed, sickened, "You're always stalking me throughout each school day, just to try and _'bond'_ with me…"

"But that's one of the many things friends are for, to stalk and help each other out when they need to! Try relaxing sometime," Ligala reassured, aware of how much stress and hard work went into cheerleading, especially as the captain. She had tried to join at one point, but it was too boring to her. Ligala continued to work away at the locked desk drawer. "Speaking of relaxing, where's Tagon?"

Tagon was the boyfriend that spoiled Luryn and acquired her all of this jewelry in the first place. The two were claimed to be impossible to separate.

"He caught someone trying to steal from his locker, so he's giving them what they deserve," Luryn reluctantly answered. Ligala stood up and kicked the bottom of the locked drawer. The one hard punt opened up the drawer with ease, the lock being knocked out of place.

 ** _"Ta-da-da-da-da-daaaaaaa!"_** Ligala presented the baby blue colored cellphone that had a heart keychain dangling from it, as she held it high in the air. The cheerleader captain swiped it from her hand, ungraciously. Ligala however then presented the shiny painted gold tickets, which were quite pricey. "So will you come to the fair with me Saturday? I bought special tickets, too! It'll let us ride any of the rides, for free, all day! I got the last two they were selling."

Luryn stared uncaringly. "Why does it matter? I don't want to spend time with you! Get it through your thick head already! I don't want to be your friend! You're just some sick freak trying to get something from me!"

Luryn shoved Ligala out of the way and left the room. The lone Loud girl stood there, looking at the tickets.

 _"Maybe that was too upfront of an approach… But Snow told me she loved fairs!"_ Ligala was not sure anymore. She could hear the bell ringing now, indicating it was time for class to start. Ligala brushed it aside for now. She had to figure things out later.

 _"Dad and Mom are wrong though. I just know it!"_

* * *

Ligala put up with her school day as she normally could, but her focus was far away from any actual school work. As she was idly in her seat, playing with her joystick after she had taken it off her necklace, the sound of the PA system chimed up.

 _"Ligala Loud, please report to the principal's office. I repeat, Ligala Loud, please come to the principal's office,"_ the assistant on the intercom requested, the entire classroom looking at her as if wondering what she did.

"Uh… sorry, teach. I'll be back soon," Ligala got up, clicking the joystick back to her necklace before heading right out of the door to see what was going on, since as far as she knew, she had done nothing against school rules, or at least anything that anyone knew about.

* * *

The Loud girl headed straight for the principal's office, but along the way, she noticed a hall monitor dragging someone familiar along.

"Snow? Hey!" Ligala called out, scurrying over to one of the hall monitors. Nobody liked the hall monitors, as they would usually be nothing but a minor nuisance that nobody took seriously. Ligala did click the quickest with the hall monitors, but when they offered her to try and be one, she found herself unable to enforce any sorts of rules. Resulting in her being removed fast.

"Oh hey, Ligala. S'up?" The teenage boy replied, his blonde hair looking so messy that he looked to have never even touched a hair brush in his entire life. He wore a bright pink sleeveless shirt with sweatbands on his wrists with dark black leather gloves on his hands.

"He's on his way to the principals right now. Sorry," the hall monitor apologized, having a tight grip on the teenage boys back.

"What'd he do, Charlie?" Ligala asked. Charlie showed a small lock, the same type that every locker had. This lock had been busted open by odd means as well, but in a way that left no visible signs of damage.

"He picked open Tagon's locker with part of a soda can that he cut out! That's invasion of privacy! He really is lucky that I found him instead of Tagon," Charlie explained. Snow had this meek smirk on his face.

"Snow! You're the one Tagon went after?!" Ligala was shocked. She was more surprised at how he wasn't beaten up.

"Hey, to be fair, he ran by me like, three times without even realizing I hid in **_HIS_** locker," Snow grinned, joking about the practical bully's low intelligence. The hall monitor was a lot smarter than him unfortunately.

"Okay, that's pretty funny… Charlie, I'm heading to the principal's anyway. Why don't I take him off your hands? You might catch frostbite hanging around him," Ligala offered. The hall monitor shrugged. He could trust her with the likes of Snow.

"I'll make that deal even sweeter, Charlie, I'll let you have first dibs on one of my famous snow cones once they're done, if you make that lock _'vanish'_ ," Snow added, being slightly known for how he spent six days out of the week preparing ice in a special way to make snow cones. About everyone wanted these snow cones, so much so that it was almost an extension of the cooking club.

"Alright, alright… I'll do it for you, Liggy," the hall monitor left the two to get back to his position in the school halls. And to make the lock disappear into the first full garbage can he passed by.

"Man… I'm lucky you make connections with everyone. Having ties like that must be useful," Snow complimented his close friend. They had known each other since their freshman year of middle school, at first things were hit and miss. Things became warmer between them when they got to know each other on a lot of different levels.

"I don't make connections, Snow. I make bonds with friends," Ligala retorted, not enjoying being treated like she was rounding up goons to make a devoted fan club to herself.

"Right, right… Well, did things work out with Luryn?" he asked as the two continued their way to the principal's office.

"Not so well… Thanks for getting Tagon out of the way for me. It was really sweet," Ligala thanked him. She knew his reason behind breaking into the cheerleader's boyfriend's locker was to serve as a mere distraction. Like an enraged bull, Tagon would focus on whoever got him angry and turn them into pulp to satisfy his rage.

"Hey, if things go south, at least I get a free ticket," Snow chuckled.

"…Sorry, I don't know what I'll do with that other ticket… I'd probably take one of my parents if I can't get Luryn to agree," Ligala shook her head. They stood outside the principal's office. Her blonde friend scratched his head, looking a bit frustrated.

"Well, you can try again at lunch with her," he stated. Ligala hoped things would go better there. They heard the door open while they had their backs turned.

"You can come in. You don't need to knock, y'know," the deeper toned voice of the principal informed them. The two students had nervous grins, having been too distracted with their chatter. They followed the principal into his office.

"Sorry Principal McBride for taking so long," Ligala apologized. The two took a seat on one side of the desk, and they saw their principal take his seat. Clyde McBride had become a teacher after realizing he loved helping the youth, and eventually before he knew it, he found himself in position as a principal, he had made his mark for all to see as well. Ligala was aware of how close her father and the principal were. The principal had come over a dozen times to their home after all.

"Don't worry about it. I know how much trouble Snow causes," Clyde brushed it aside.

"I'll remember that when you want another lemon snow cone," Snow muttered, acting like he did not want to believe his own shady record for the school as a trouble causer. The principal paid the comment no mind.

"Alright, so… I called you both in here because you were caught breaking into things… And I know coincidences are a rarity, especially since one couple bothered another," Clyde started, half confusing them. It took a moment for the Loud girl to catch on.

"I'm not with Snow! I was trying to invite Luryn to the fair with me… Snow had to do something to distract her boyfriend," Ligala explained. Her dear friend stayed leaned back in his chair. Aware that they most likely both had been seen committing said breaking and entering.

"Hey, I didn't do anything, and if I don't see any evidence saying otherwise, I don't intend to be staying around to listen," Snow retorted. He had covered his tracks. His obsession with wearing gloves to warm up his constantly cold hands and getting the hall monitor to trash the evidence cleared him easily.

"Ease up, son. This isn't a police interrogation. I'm just worried about you two. Especially you, Ligala. Your dad would tear me into ribbons if you were in trouble and I ignored it," the glasses wearing principal claimed. He had seen Lincoln's true anger a few times and he knew not to mess around.

"I know. I just had to break into Ms Crabupple's desk to get Luryn her phone back," Ligala mindlessly blurted out without a second thought.

"… I'll pretend I didn't hear that because she's going to be fired tomorrow anyway," Clyde groaned, holding his head. He knew Ms Crabupple was anger prone, so much so to the point where she seemed to just confiscate and steal things from students' personal affects, whether or not they were pulled out in class. The parents' complaints did add onto things and made him well aware of it.

"But look, Ligala, that girl's gonna get you in trouble. And I know you want to be friends with everybody, but even Snow here should be able to tell you that there are some people who will just use you until you can't give them anything more. In the end, they'll leave you with a broken heart," Clyde tried to talk some sense into his best friend's daughter. Almost hundreds had tried to do this and none had succeeded, whether or not they even got any reply on the comment was a different matter entirely.

"If that happened, I'd just have to try harder to be real friends with them!" Ligala replied brightly, "I mean, I made friends with Snow after all, and he spent all his time in a freezer packing ice tightly together so he could make snow cones."

"You stayed in there all night just to prove how much you wanted to help me! The principal is right though. You're crazy... But hey, you wouldn't be you without that crazy," Snow did not even go near that topic, instead reaffirming the teenage girls beliefs. He knew she was able to get things done. One way or the other, she always found a way eventually.

"Well, the name Loud is another word for insanity… I definitely should know," Clyde chuckled. He had given his warning out and the two students knew they could come and talk to him if they ever needed advice. He was a more able counselor of the school compared to the official one. They all suddenly heard the sound of the bell ringing, indicating it was lunch time.

"Thanks for the talk, Principal McBride! This is a good chance to try again with Luryn though!" Ligala darted off, leaving the room and leaving Snow behind. The blonde boy looked to the principal.

"Before I go," Snow leaned onto the desk like an impatient detective in an interview, "I've been meaning to ask you something about Tagon…"

The principal nodded.

 _"Go ahead and ask away."_

* * *

Things were pretty normal in the cafeteria. A lot of people were in line waiting for their food. Ligala was looking around the several tables that did have people seated at them, but these people were not the ones she was looking for. She suddenly felt a hand on her back shove her down to the tiled floor with a thud.

"Ooough, my mouth… Oh hey!" Ligala rolled over quickly, getting over the pain upon seeing Luryn standing there. A slightly taller teenage boy stood beside her in a red coat. His black hair resembled charcoal with its dark tone. She could tell he was the one who pushed her.

"Watch where you're standing, Liga-loser," Tagon told the Loud girl, watching her roll back on the floor before springing onto her feet again. Luryn paid no attention, texting away addictively on her cellphone.

"Sorry, I thought I was out of the way of the doors! …Do you have room at your table for one more?" Ligala requested, noticing the usual random assortment of goons that Tagon often had hanging out with him. It was a miracle that Snow had been able to dodge them all. Ligala held the joystick dangling from her necklace with a bright smile, as if gripping it would grant her good luck.

"Is this some kind of joke? You got my phone for me and I appreciate it, but can you just take a hint and get lost?" Luryn replied in a hostile tone. However the Loud girl took notice of something.

"You got another necklace…?" Ligala saw another new necklace that she had somehow gotten since they last met. The necklace was an average gold chain with nothing special to it, but it still stood out pretty well for its odd chain pattern design.

"You jealous?" Luryn had an eyebrow raised.

"No, but I'm not sure having this much jewelry is healthy for your neck…" Ligala answered. She was not a big fan of jewelry. She only needed the one joystick necklace she had and nothing more.

"Yup. Definitely jealous… Each one of these is another sign of me and Tagon's love for each other. Maybe one day, if you're lucky, you'll find a guy who'll give you a gumball," the blonde cheerleader laughed, but they were being frustrated by how their insults were seemingly having no effect on their schoolmate.

"I've been trying to give you something just as great though," Ligala claimed.

"I swear on my last name if you say friendship…" Luryn murmured bitterly, holding her head like she could not believe half the things she spewed. The cheerleader captain was a year and a month younger than Ligala, yet she did not seem to care to respect the middle school senior.

"Okay, I won't say it. Because you did already… I don't know why you're so paranoid about anyone trying to get close to you. It's creepy," Ligala claimed. It would make sense if this was just a rather rude clique Luryn was in. However, the cheerleader seemed to generally be hostile to most around her that she did not have to put up with on a regular basis.

"What?! **_YOU_** of all people are calling **_ME_** creepy?! Ms _'I wanna be everyone's friends so I can get free stuff'_ is calling _**ME**_ the creep?!" Luryn had a deep nerve struck. Her hand gripped her phone so hard that she was shaking. Ligala made note of this the second she saw it.

"I don't want free stuff! I want to make everyone's lives brighter! Friends and family are the key to living," Ligala repeated her personal beliefs and views. It seemed to fall on anger deafened ears.

"Alright, you've harassed my girl long enough with your li'l delusions… Boys," Tagon snapped his fingers. The Loud teenager did not understand what was going on when two of the other crew members of theirs grabbed her arms.

"You're going to let me join you at lunch?" Ligala hopefully questioned, her eyes practically shimmering in joy at the thought of it.

"Sure… We can spend the entire lunch period together," Tagon replied with a toothy grin.

"Awesome!" She cheered, being dragged away back to the hallway toward one of the many exits the school had.

"I guess I should come too," Luryn sighed, putting her phone away. She looked down at the heart locket necklace dangling around her neck, the prominent. She followed along to keep up with her boyfriend and the others. Nobody thought much of this since Ligala seemed happy.

"I've never had lunch outside before!"

"Can you be quiet for like two minutes?"

"No…?"

"I'm gonna enjoy this."

"Yeah! I'm starved!"

"Oh, we got plenty of sandwiches to share."

"Really? What's in them?"

"It's a surprise…"

"Aw…"

* * *

"Gack!" Ligala slid across the gravelly ground, rolling onto her face. She had only two seconds with the earth before she was hoisted back up.

"Come on, stand up! He barely whiffed your cheek with that one!"

She had her arms held securely, several new bruises and scrapes across herself. The group was in a rather abandoned part of the school, the back corner outside where the tool shed resided. Nobody ever came out to that part of the school aside from the football field caretaker and the grass trimmers.

"My loose tooth says otherwise…" Ligala replied, watching Tagon stomp up toward her and deliver a hard punch to the side of her face that knocked her out of the others' arms, sending her back onto the ground with a hard impact back first. Her head throbbed from the impact.

"Hope you're getting my good side, Luryn," Tagon laughed. The cheerleader captain had her cellphone, recording this beat down from start to finish.

"Is this really because I tried to be your friend? You can't just shut everyone out, Luryn!" Ligala was picked up once more. Luryn ignored her and continued to record, but looked rather bored.

"Tagon, this is boring. I've watched you do this a dozen times before already," Luryn stated. Even if each beating was for different reasons, it did not make them all entertaining to watch. She was only recording for the sake of doing so.

"Sorry babe, but this ditz had it coming after all she's done to you," the older boy retorted. The other goons brought Ligala back onto her feet once again. The teenage girl did not really know what to do in this situation, but she was not fighting back.

"What's with this toy around your neck anyway?" Tagon asked, reaching down and grabbing the joystick dangling from the necklace.

"Hey, that was a present from my folks! It's my key to me!" Ligala shouted when she felt a slight tug on it. She pulled her legs back and kicked Tagon in the chest, knocking him backwards to the ground and making him let go. It also caused the goons holding her to be knocked back from the force and fall to the ground, letting her break from their grips.

"I probably should've mentioned she was the only tryout that could really do a split," Luryn told her boyfriend, seeing his angry expression. He was getting up and his two goons were about to join him in this assault, but when they approached her, several tiny bundles of rocks were thrown their way, bouncing off their faces and stunning them with the pain.

"Hey, calm down there, jeweler," Snow announced his presence, approaching with nothing short of the most smug aura Ligala had ever seen him with.

"Whaddya want, frost brain?" Luryn asked, "We're busy."

"I want you to leave my bud alone," Snow simply stated.

"Give me one reason why," Tagon stomped toward him, but the snow cone maker held out his hand, motioning him to stop. The worried Ligala looked between the two. She couldn't care about being hurt when her own friend might get hurt on her behalf.

"Because I might start talking about your dad and your job," Snow cockily commented. Tagon stopped in a heartbeat. His anger turned to shock, and he was unable to hide it.

"Oh? You have a job, baby?" Luryn asked, not too shocked. All the jewelry she was given had to be paid for somehow. But she wondered what his father had to do with it.

" _Son of a…_ yes, I work nights. Let's just get going. We can work on planning our trip," Tagon insisted. Luryn was confused as he began to quickly drag her away, his goons following. Ligala stood there, surprised.

"You alright there, Ligz?" Snow approached, not letting that smugness dissipate.

"I'm okay… thanks for the save… What was that about?" Ligala replied, impressed that anyone could scare off Tagon. Back then, nobody could.

"I asked the principal about Tagon's family… After what he told me, I did some digging around and got some juicy dirt that can help you out. One of his little buddies from his inner circle traded out for snow cone priority," Snow explained. This lit his bucktoothed friend's expression up to a big smile. He was able to do well at digging for information usually through his shady methods.

"Really?! Awesome! What'd you find out?!" Ligala begged. She kept a tight grip on the joystick. The threat of someone else nearly taking her precious possession made her afraid to let go of it.

"Well… there's a lot of stuff to go over… To start with, Tagon might be getting held back on purpose, since his hearts been broken more often than our faces have ever been bashed in," Snow began. The two began to make their way back toward the school, just to get to their next class on time.

"His heart? I don't get it…" Ligala murmured. Her best friend sighed, rolling his eyes .

"The guys had so many girlfriends that it'd make even the king of the school jealous… The guy's job is to be an inventory manager of his dad's jewelry store," the blonde boy took off his gloves from his hands and looked down at them. They had quite a lot of damage on them from harsh weather exposure that his body should not have been anywhere near able to tolerate.

"So? I understand if you're trying to tell me this. I know if I want to be Luryn's friend, I have to be Tagon's friend too… I was hoping to try and work on him second though," Ligala felt sheepish, aware of how rude that task of hers might be. Her best friend put his gloves back on, fastening them to make sure they did not slip off.

"Ligala, the guys a thief," Snow cut to the chase, "Every girl he's been with has had more jewelry than the last."

"Snow! You know it's mean to assume and just believe whatever you hear from rumors!" Ligala accused.

"It's not rumors," Snow scoffed, "You saw how scared he got when I brought up his job."

Ligala took a moment to realize just how right he was. She bit her lip and began to play with the joystick for her own personal comfort, clicking some of the triggers and buttons in.

"His family runs a jewelry store that he happens to work in. And every girl he dates, he gives tons of shiny things to, but they never stay. The big lug's confused, and as impossible as it sounds, judging from the looks of it, Luryn is the one he's invested the most into and gotten the closest with," Snow declared. There were far too many coincidences for it to chain back and forth like this. Ligala squeezed her joystick, she exhaled, and she put the joystick back on her necklace.

"I think I have a good idea of what I need to do now, Snow… Thanks," Ligala bowed. Snow reached down and grabbed her head, making her straighten back up.

"Stop doing that, it makes you look weird… But I can already tell you have a plan," the snow cone maker commented. Ligala nodded, more than prepared.

"Yep! I just need you to help dig a little more information up. We have the next few days off anyway," Ligala claimed. It was supposed to be a teacher's holiday this week or a personal vacation that they wanted to take to recover from the insanity they tolerated from all their students.

"Are you going to tell your parents? You do look kind of messed up," Snow asked. Ligala opened her mouth, wanting to answer, but she had no idea.

"I'm screwed on that front… But it just is a small bump on the road to friendship! Come on, let's get this going! I'm sure some of the other cheerleaders can help," Ligala brushed the problem aside for now. She would worry about that next when it came up after the school day. She just worried whether or not that Snow would know what he was doing.

* * *

Lincoln was on the drive back home. It was nothing unusual so far in his day beyond the occasional pet snake that decided to give him a surprise nip or two.

"Am I really being too afraid about all this?" he asked himself, looking up to the rear-view mirror. Dangling from it was a small picture frame holding a picture of him and Luna close together and holding a toddler Ligala in their arms in front of their house after they had finally finished refurbishing it. He remembered that day so well. It was one of his brightest moments of his life.

"I could at least stop being such a jerk about it…" Lincoln muttered. He felt he was rude to Luna whenever she brought up the thought of conceiving another child. He gave up nearly everything in his life to take care of his own sub-family. The mere thought of Luna winding up in a hospital near death made him freeze up. Lincoln did not believe he could raise Ligala or face their family alone without her.

Lincoln pulled his car to a halt at the driveway and got his keys out from the car's ignition. Today was one of his better job days. Only few animals bit him and clawed him. The Loud boy yawned, getting out of his car and heading inside his home.

"Luna! Ligala! I'm home," the young man stepped inside, letting the door close behind him. He was surprised to see things empty, but also saw a chocolate cake resting out on the table in the kitchen.

"We're in here, Lincoln!" Luna called back from the downstairs bathroom. He made his way straight there.

"What are you two doing? …LIGALA?!" Lincoln's heart nearly stopped when he saw his daughter sitting on the edge of the bathtub, the first aid kit set on the sink. Luna was tending to their child

"Welcome home, dad," Ligala brightly replied.

"It's a good thing you don't faint like dad," Luna commented to her lover. She was unsure if she could handle him fainting if something was too shocking to him every time.

"What happened?!" Lincoln panicked, his rock star sibling motioning him to calm down.

"Oh, I got beaten up," Ligala's joyful aura stayed as she answered. Another band aid was put on her cheek.

 ** _"Who did it?!"_**

"Lincoln, if you don't calm down I'm going to water board you in the bath tub," Luna threatened him. She understood that he was upset over their daughter being hurt, but she hated seeing him so worked up.

"Alright… Alright…" he took in some deep breaths.

"I have no clue who beat me up… Snow saved me though, but his memory's duller than the snow cone's he makes," Ligala explained. She had trouble memorizing everyone's names. She only remembered people's names if she got to know them better. She didn't even know Luryn's full name and she had been trying to become her friend for quite some time.

"I can relax a lot better knowing you have someone who cares looking out for you… Even if he spends most of his time in a freezer," Luna laughed lightly. She was not the most fond of Snow, mostly because the way he dressed that made him look a street gangster.

"Let me help," Lincoln came over, crouching down to help treat the various bruises and bumps their daughter had sustained.

"Sorry for making you both worry a lot," the teenage girl apologized.

"Don't get upset over it… There's a cake waiting for us all to bite into after dinner," Luna smirked. She finished wrapping a bandage around her white haired daughter's forearm.

"What's the occasion?" Lincoln wondered, "Or are you just craving chocolate again?"

"Oh, no real reason… My newest album's become a number one best seller!" the rock star announced loud enough to hurt her family's hearing, no thanks to the bathrooms reverberation.

"Really?! That's great mom!" Ligala wrapped her arms around her mother's stomach.

"Luna, that's awesome! …but did Recardia really have to call you over to tell you that?" Lincoln worriedly asked, not wanting to go near the part of Royal Woods their family still resided in, though he doubted they would recognize them at first glance due to how long it had been.

"He said telling someone great news over the phone isn't as good or dramatic as it is in person… He's not wrong. The drive alone was worth it," Luna was more than happy with the news. The family made their way into the kitchen. Lincoln made a mental note to call Clyde later to see if he knew anything about his daughter's assault.

"I wanted to ask you guys something," Ligala said while they were beginning to take their seats around the table.

"What is it, honey?" Lincoln tilted his head curiously. He was more worried that their only child might be hiding her true feelings behind a fake smile, but their daughter was a strange one. Neither of them could get a read on her.

"Tomorrow is a teacher's holiday, so I wanted to ask if I could spend the night at Snow's? He's been complaining about needing help and I kind of do owe him one for saving my skin," Ligala explained. Lincoln sighed, starting to realize why their father was so worried about every boy one of his sisters spent time alone with.

"I miss when you were a lot smaller… And less crazy," Lincoln claimed.

"That's why we recorded everything, remember honey?" Luna reminded him, trying to slice the cake into pieces for them all to enjoy after dinner.

"An extra hundred dollars goes a long way," he nodded with a light laugh.

"Can I borrow the video camera, too?" Ligala then asked. Her parents were more confused.

"Why? I don't even think you should be alone at Snow's…" Lincoln voiced his concerns.

"He seems as clear as ice… I say give'em a chance, Linc," Luna countered. Her loved one held his head, aware that he couldn't be the overprotective parent he had been this last decade. There would be a time where he either had to grant Ligala her freedom or she would start doing even more reckless things.

"Alright, alright, you can go…" Lincoln sighed, "Me and your mother have a lot to talk about tomorrow, anyway."

"Yes! Thanks, mom! Thanks, dad!" Ligala hugged them. Both her parents warmly returned the hug.

"Guess I better get started on dinner or else we'll never get to enjoy the cake," Lincoln stood up and stretched, he headed toward the kitchen.

"Hey, uh… Lincoln… Is this thing you want to discuss about…?" Luna hesitantly asked, and her brotherly lover nodded.

"Of course… and a nice long date as an apology for me acting like a jerk to you every time you've brought it up," Lincoln's answer made Luna happier than she ever had been in a while. Ligala did not know the topic her parents would be discussing, but considered it a great thing if it made her Mom happy. Right now she had to keep going over all she had learned today in her head and did not want to get distracted.

* * *

The next evening, Ligala walked along the streets of another neighborhood of town, at least ten miles away from her home.

"I hope this works…" Ligala nervously began to click the buttons on the joystick. She had a camera bag hung over her shoulder. The street lamps activated from above her. During her approach, she noticed a bike riding down the sidewalk toward her.

"Snow? What are you doing here?" Ligala asked, the bike halting in front of her with her best friend riding it. They had agreed to meet at his house.

"I got sick of waiting for you," Snow reached into the front basket and threw a helmet to her. She caught it, guessing he was just being a gentleman with letting her have the head protection.

"Well sorry, it's not my fault I don't know how to ride a bike… Or anything, really…" Ligala nervously spoke. She attached the joystick back on her necklace, before she strapped the helmet on and got onto the back of the bicycle, beginning to hold onto him as he started peddling.

"Pretty sure it is."

"Is not! I have trouble controlling my balance!"

"Yup, it definitely is your fault."

"You're mean…"

"I'm as cool and cold as the ice that scarred my hands."

"Alright, reel it back there, Mr. Freeze."

"Walked into that one…"

"Like a freezer?"

"Please stop."

"No way!"

* * *

After a two hour ride, they finally arrived to an area outside of Royal Woods that was heavily wooded and normally used as a giant camping ground for those on vacation, or simply people who needed to get away from the stress and take a day or longer to enjoy the world around them.

"I think we're in the right place?" Ligala said, looking down at a map on her cellphone.

"Unless someone gave us the wrong information… That'd suck after the good trade we made for it," Snow muttered. They hopped off the bicycle.

"If what we've heard is right, then we need to make sure they don't do anything stupid out here… either of them," the bucktoothed girl replied. Luryn and Tagon were supposed to be out here camping. Neither Ligala nor Snow knew how they slid past their parents to do this or gained approval.

"Well it's your idea… You're the one who hunted down most of his ex's. If you really think there's a pattern to this that makes him both the good and the bad guy, you really are the big question mark," Snow took the camera bag from Ligala. She did work hard to track down Tagon's former loved ones. They disliked the offer of Ligala friendship in trade for information of what went wrong in their relationships. Thankfully, Snow was there to help offer information for information.

"Alright. Let's get to hunting. We can't let them get hurt," she cracked her hands.

"I'll be ready to tag in if it goes south again," the blonde boy prepared the camera. The duo began to wander into the woods, cautiously, keeping a lookout for signs of light or other ways to tell if someone had been around in the area.

* * *

They spent a while in the forest, going deeper and farther in their search. Ligala gasped upon noticing a dim light emanating from a campfire she crouched down beginning to slowly go along the ground

"Alright, Snow, you better get in position fast…" Ligala whispered, her friend already moving to ready the video camera. She crawled into a nearby bush, and once she felt close enough to the campsite, she peeked her head through the bush.

"That's them," the teenage girl was relieved to finally have found Luryn, Tagon and a few of his goons. Some cronies were cooking food over the campfire. Two were already out cold in one of the three tents, and the last person was more or less trying to set up a makeshift hammock out of a sleeping bag.

"Maybe she was right about me stalking…" Ligala mused. She had to ask herself how far she would go for friendship, but she was soon starting to see the cheerleader captain's point.

"Dad is working an all-nighter again and mom is out cold because two people were screaming at each other in court, so she had to knock herself out with sleeping meds…" Luryn spoke, sounding disheartened. Her boyfriend put an arm on her back.

"I don't get why your dad has to work so many jobs… Your mother's a judge. You think he'd be able to lighten up a little with her paycheck being that big," Tagon claimed. It was how Luryn was able to get out so easily without so much as a single counter point. She would be able to sneak back home before anyone even noticed and could lie about getting breakfast and other activities.

"He always says, better safe than sorry… I think he's more scared because mom's pregnant again," the blonde cheerleader shrugged, taking a sip of her soda. She reached down and took hold of her heart shaped locket, opening it and looking inside it.

"I'm not wanting their attention, but it's like they're avoiding each other now…" she continued. She knew her father was doing his best to make their mother comfortable. The stress of being a judge was far more important of a job than most could tolerate. The stress was even worse while pregnant. Her mother always had her judgment questioned because of her pregnancy, which did little to help her mood whenever she got home.

"Why do you wear that junk? It just looks ugly compared to the rest of the jewelry," Tagon asked, looking at it. She closed the heart locket back and looked down to it.

"Mom gave me it when I was two. She always told me if I was upset, I could look to it for comfort, especially whenever I needed them," Luryn explained. Ligala felt a trigger in her head go off. It sounded exactly like how she felt with the toy her parents gave her. She used it whenever she needed to think or was anxious, and when doing it, her thoughts immediately went to her parents every time.

"Break free of it then. They're just holding you back. If they cared, they wouldn't need to rely on some random five dollar scrap junk from a store… That's why I give you the best of the best, to show how much I love and care for you," Tagon unhooked the locket from his girlfriend's neck. Luryn held the item in her hand, looking to the campfire that burned brightly beside them.

"Maybe you're right…" Luryn breathed. She raised her hand over the fire and after a few moments, she let go. Ligala gasped, seeing the necklace fall into the blazing wood.

 **"NO!"** Ligala darted out from her hiding place.

"What the-! Ligala? What are you doing here?!" Tagon demanded, while standing up.

"Luryn! You're making a mistake!" Ligala yelled, "That locket is your key to you! Like how my toys my key to me! I'm here because Tagon pulls this stunt every time! He tricks his girlfriends to ruin their bonds with their parents so they get closer to him! No one's fallen for it for long!"

 _ **"Wh-WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"**_ Luryn watched in horror as Ligala drove her arm into the fire, biting her lip and closing her eyes. The Loud girl winced in agony upon feeling the burning pain consume her hand and lower arm nearly up to her elbow as she rummaged through the burning wood.

"I told you! This is what friends are for! To help each other out when they need to! You can't give up something important like this without so much as a care!" Ligala replied through her gritted teeth. After a while of burning pain, she pulled her hand from the fire, holding the slightly damaged locket in her hand. Her hand and arm were covered in second degree burns.

"That girl is crazy! Jack! Get the water! No, bring the whole cooler over here!" Tagon ordered. His friend nodded not wasting anytime in rushing it over and letting the lid get kicked off Ligala wasted no time sticking her whole arm into the giant tub of ice.

 _"Haah… Oough…"_ she panted, "That's going to hurt a while."

"Ligala! What in the name of hell drove you to do something that stupid?!" Luryn demanded answers. Ligala pulled her arm out of the cooler, presenting the locket again. It still retained its heart shape, but the chain was lost in the flames. She handed it over to the cheerleader captain, it felt very warm still.

"I didn't want to see my friend hurt… I told you, I don't want anything from you. I've done everything I could think of to prove it, but… But just because you tell me no, doesn't mean I'm going to let you hurt yourself. Friends and family are the keys to life…" Ligala put her arm back in the cooler, panting.

"Ligala! Hey are you okay?!" Snow called out, going straight to her dropping the video camera beside him.

"I'll be fine. What matters is that I saved it. Skin heals, but memories don't," Ligala seemed happy, despite the practical self mutilation just now.

"Tagon is… Is she telling the truth?" Luryn solemnly requested, holding the now cooled down locket in her hands, tightening her grip.

"…yeah," Tagon did not deny it. He was caught, and after witnessing what they had seen, which he then put himself at fault for, he could not lie.

"But… But why? You told me those girls used you to get things!" Luryn was upset. Snow looked to Ligala, trying to make sure she would stay conscious. The aftermath of the pain was setting in and it was a lot worse than before.

"That's half true…" Tagon breathed, "I slacked behind and didn't get ahead in grades on purpose to stay with them a little longer. But before I knew it, they were moving on without me."

"…I'm an _**idiot!**_ " Luryn began to remove every piece of jewelry on her body and shoved them into his hands. She practically ripped the earrings out of her earlobes without a care. "I didn't listen to anybody! I didn't care that you were older than me! I didn't care about the jewelry! I just cared about you because I thought you were so open and honest with me, Tagon! …We're done."

Luryn got her cellphone out. The big man looked quite depressed. His friends were all around, observing the dramatic scene.

"I'm calling an ambulance, and then I'm calling her parents and my parents to the hospital!" the cheerleading captain declared. Snow picked up the camera they had only brought in case something went wrong. He was meant to catch it all on recording. He really wished he had not witnessed what did go down.

"I'm sorry you did all this for me…" Luryn told Ligala, coming over. Tagon held the jewelry, feeling immensely ashamed.

"Hey… What'd I say? One of the many things friends do is stalk and help each other out when they need to…" Ligala weakly responded. Snow shook her back awake. The blonde girl felt terrible for how mean she had been. Ligala had done so much for her. Luryn felt bad to not have accepted her friendship earlier. She took full responsibility for her injuries.

"Hey, icicle brain! Go make sure the paramedics can get here! Tagon, if you want to start making things up to me, go help him!" Luryn ordered. The two followed her orders. She stayed there with the other few friends of Tagon's to take care of Ligala.

"Can I sleep…?"

"No, you idiot! Stay awake! If something happens to you, I swear I'll never forgive myself!"

"You sound like my dad."

"Just… I don't know... play with your joystick or something. Just please stay awake!"

"Alright… Maybe I really should be less impulsive."

 _ **"YOU THINK?!"**_

* * *

Luryn sat in a waiting room, staring down at her hands in. The damaged locket was in her right hand, and the joystick in the other. The doctors had to take Ligala to a special room to treat her arm and could not bring anything from the outside with her, due to the risk of infections. Luryn took it upon herself to make sure nothing happened to the toy that Ligala cherished.

"Things went way off the rails tonight," Snow spoke from the chair across from her, with one of his legs kicked up over the other. Tagon sat nearby, silent.

"…Why were you at our camp?" Luryn asked. The blonde boy took his gloves off his hands, stuffing them into his pocket, since the hospital was too hot to wear them for long periods of time. He would slip them back on after his palms had gotten some air.

"After your little pow-wow the other day, Ligala spent most of the day hunting down people to get information…" Snow answered, "She really gave up a lot of stuff to find you."

"Like what…?"

"Money, test answers, favors… I helped with what I could, but my snow cones can only get people to agree to so much," Snow replied. He knew such places to get information from en masse was the halls. It was very simple from there to track the two down and find out what the former couple's plans were.

"She's lucky to have such a caring boyfriend," Luryn began to toy with the joystick herself. She could not really get the same sense of alleviation from clicking in the buttons or moving it around in her hand that Ligala enjoyed.

"Oh, I'm not her boyfriend. Ligala doesn't care about romance, as far as I know. I'm just another person she went miles far for me, all to prove how much she wanted to be my friend," Snow sighed, smiling sadly at recalling it all, and he presented his harmed hands, "I spent all my days in and out making snow cones just so that one day a week I could be popular. She spent an entire night in a freezer packing ice with me to prepare things. Frostbite left these marks on my hands… Ligala's got some marks like mine on her left leg. She's crazy, but she is the most genuine person I could know."

"What kind of idiot does something like that for someone they barely know? I treated her so badly, even when we were on the same team, and she still risked her arm for my locket," Luryn was in disbelief. Even if she knew Ligala on a deeper level, she would not be able to fathom it.

"Luryn…" Tagon breathed, "I'm sorry for what I did. This is all my fault…"

 _ **"Sorry?!"**_ Luryn snapped, "That's the last thing I wanna hear from you! I wouldn't care as much if you had just been trying to buy my love, but… stealing? I don't care how many girls took your so-called gift givings too far! The best thing you can do right now, Tagon, is start smartening up and sit back down, before I really take my anger out on the likes of you!"

Luryn then plopped back onto her seat, just letting her chest rise and fall to the exhausted breaths. Tagon was hurt. He did not say another word. But he understood.

"Alright, calm down you two. I think they're going to call security on us otherwise," Snow ordered, having taken notice of the nursing staff and doctors noticing them and their arguing. The broken couple remained in their own personal silences.

"We're here for Ligala Loud. Please, is there anything you can tell us?!" a voice sounded at the receptionist desk. They could see Lincoln and Luna, seemingly awake from their slumbers to the dreadful news of their child being in the hospital. It took Lincoln a year to stop having nightmares related to that when Ligala was born in the first place.

"Yo, Mr. and Mrs. Loud! Over here!" Snow waved an arm, getting their attention quite easily. The two came over.

"Snow! What happened? We thought you two were having a normal sleepover!" Luna looked ready to blame him for this.

"Oh… that was a lie," the blonde boy offered the video camera to them, "I did get what happened on camera if you wanna see but… I really wouldn't if I were you."

Luryn got up and approached the parents. "Um I'm the one who called you… I'm sorry. Ligala did something stupid because of me."

Lincoln wanted to view the recording, but Luna was not letting him. She knew Lincoln would die of emotional stress if he watched their daughter and her incident that required hospitalization.

"Just…" Lincoln stammered, "What happened? And why are you here Luryn?"

"I-I dropped my locket in a campfire…" Luryn started explaining, regretful with every word, "I don't know why I did it, other than me being stupid. I didn't know. But Ligala and Snow were spying on us. When it went into the fire, she came running up and put her arm in there to get it out for me… I'm here, because she saved me from myself… She's a great friend, and I'm sorry for hurting her! …my parents will be here soon."

"It's on me… I made Luryn throw the locket in the fire. I didn't know how important it was, but Ligala knew exactly. That's why she did that," Tagon mumbled. Luryn was a little surprised that Tagon put himself at fault. Snow stayed leaned back in his chair. When Ligala's parents looked to Snow for his perspective of the story, he quirked an eyebrow.

"What? I was in a tree recording from a short ways away. I just saw Ligala with her arm in a fire and hopped down to get to her," Snow regretted agreeing to the plan that Ligala had formulated to make sure Luryn would be safe in the first place. Nobody pinned the blame on her though, it was very spur of the moment. "…Why do I smell wine on your breath? And why are you two so sweaty?"

"Ask your parents. The answer'll be the same," Lincoln brushed the query aside, looking more frustrated than ever. Things became so quiet that the sound of the clock ticking was prominent. The sibling parents could only take their own seats and wait like everyone else.

* * *

The night continued. Each minute that passed felt as long as an hour. Lincoln could not brighten up after the nurses told them that her life was in no danger, mainly because her limb was at risk of being lost. Neither the veterinarian nor the rock star could imagine seeing their daughter with one less limb. They knew Ligala well enough to know that she would not let it hold her back or change her mood. During the wait, some more people came to the receptionist desk, but they turned from it upon seeing who they were looking for in the waiting room.

"Luryn! What are you doing here? Sneaking out in the middle of the night young lady isn't safe, and you know it!" a stern, harsh voice made Lincoln and Luna look to each other, confused.

"Honey, what happened to your jewelry? You look like a completely different person," another familiar voice perked their ears. The sibling couple stood up and turned to Luryn and her parents. Both of who looked familiar.

"No way…" Lincoln was in awe. There stood a black haired and bearded man in a green plaid patterned shirt, and a woman with blonde hair that barely reached past her shoulders wearing a blue nightgown with jeans underneath, her stomach distended somewhat. The two seemed just as shocked to see the couple before them.

 _ **"Luna?! Lincoln!?"**_

 _ **"Lori?! Bobby!?"**_

"Lincoln… Luna… _Oh my gosh,_ " Lori had tears in her eyes. Lincoln and Luna were still shocked. They did not even notice when the pregnant woman pulled them both into a tight hug.

"Baby, your locket! What happened to it?" Bobby asked their daughter. Luryn had the slightly burnt item still in her hand. When she opened it, she revealed a photo of a younger Lori and Bobby, holding the newborn Luryn. The picture was burnt on the ends, but thankfully it was still in decent condition.

"Oh, dad! It's horrible!" the blonde haired girl hugged her father, burying her face into him. Tagon and Snow stayed put, not wanting to ruin the moment.

"What are you two doing here? Do you know how worried sick we've been all this time!? And where's Ligala?" Lori wanted to be angry, but her emotions were all over the place.

"Ligala is… she's the reason we're here," Luna solemnly answered.

"What?" the oldest loud sibling looked to their only brother.

"She's got really bad burns on her arm… They're not sure if they'll have to amputate or not," Lincoln was distraught at imagining it alone. Lori covered her mouth in terror.

"It's all my fault! She hurt herself because I dropped my locket in the fire!" Luryn cried. Bobby picked up the teenage cheerleader, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"There, there. I'm sure it was an accident, baby…" the Santiago boy tried to hush her cries. He was not able to stand seeing her upset. They had conceived a child themselves shortly after Lincoln and Luna moved out and vanished without a trace, it was somewhat on purpose but they really could not remember if it was an accidental pregnancy or not, the night was so vague in their minds.

"Ligala was the one you were complaining about so much?" Lori asked their daughter. Luryn rarely went a single day without talking about how she would be harassed at least once a day. Otherwise, she never went into detail about Ligala.

"Our daughter's grown up to be very… well, herself I guess," Lincoln half-heartedly chuckled, guessing he got his wish.

"She stuck her arm in the fire to save that locket," Luna repeated. The reunion was bittersweet. Lori and Bobby were speechless, but it had all mounted to one point and had broke their daughter with the guilt.

 _ **"Ah-hem!"**_ Coughed a doctor standing there, catching their attention.

"How's Ligala?!" Lincoln asked. Lori was in no condition to be doing that sort of thing with her second child on the way in a few months. Snow, Tagon, Luryn and Bobby waited in anticipation.

"I've got good news and bad news…But, the bad news is pretty bad." the doctor's words made their hearts sink.

 _"No...Please let this just be a dream..."_


	20. Family Reunion

**_Authors note: Please do not complain of the length, this is the last chapter and I apologize. But there was nowhere to break it up that wouldn't ruin the flow I was going for, and I wanted this to be 20 chapters or under. Also, the winner of the second poll was Lynn. Look forward to the next story I have planned. Because after this chapter, I'm taking a bit of a teeny break._**

 ** _I hope you enjoyed this for my first story, I poured my heart and soul into it. This is Fallen Pens, dropping out._**

* * *

 ** _Epilogue chapter 2..._**

* * *

Lincoln, Luna and Luryn made their way down the halls to the ICU. Everyone else remained in the waiting room. After a bittersweet reunion, the sibling couple had agreed to take their niece back there with them so she could return the joystick herself.

"I can't believe I'm related to you two…" Luryn said while they walked, their feet clacking against the tiled floor. Lincoln put a hand on her back.

"You're not the only one surprised… I guess it's not too surprising that your parents haven't talked much about us," the veterinarian stated. What confused him was the fact he still had contact with Ronnie Anne. It made him wonder why she did not inform him about her big brother's daughter.

"No, mom talks about you a lot. She said that when my uncle and one of my aunts left that it took her nearly a year to start smiling again…" Luryn explained. It was why she hated having people close to her. She did not want to wind up in the same constant emotional agony from losing someone dear to her, like her mother and aunts did.

"Believe us, it took us a while to get over the guilt, too," Luna said. She wanted to ask about a lot of things, but was more focused on making sure their daughter was alright.

"I'm still having trouble believing that Ligala is… well… I-it's weird to know my cousin's parents are siblings," Luryn continued, a little overwhelmed with the news, but her aunt and uncle did not respond. There was not much they could say to justify their actions, she respected them but could not help but be slightly stunned by the revelation too.

"There's her room," Lincoln anxiously said as they arrived outside of the hospital room 220. He wanted to go straight inside, but was afraid to grab the handle to the door even. He felt Luna put a hand on his shoulder.

"The doctor told us what to expect, honey… Remember what you always told me, Lincoln? You kept saying how I'll never be alone for anything. So I'm going to make sure you're never alone for anything either," the rock star told her brother. Lincoln slowly gained a small smile. With his renewed courage, he grabbed the door handle and opened it to let them go inside.

"Oh! You have visitors! What perfect timing! I just finished changing her bandages," a nurse spoke by the hospital bedside. Ligala lay there wide awake with an IV hooked up to her left arm. Her right arm was covered nearly completely in bandages, her hand having thicker covering over it.

 _"Mom… Dad… Luryn…"_ Ligala's smile was still there, despite the weak tone to her voice.

 _"Hey there."_

"She's just been talking up a storm with me!" the nurse told the family, "It's sad that such bad things happen to good people, but you can be happy with knowing that it's all uphill from here."

"That's really great to hear… can we have some privacy, please?" Lincoln requested. The nurse nodded. They knew to hit the emergency contact button by the medical bed if they needed her. She left the room, closing the door shut behind her, to let the family reunite.

"Honey… C-can we see your arm?" Luna hesitantly asked. They knew they'd have to see it for themselves eventually, avoiding it was impossible. And for some odd reason, she had a feeling the longer they tried to avoid it the worse it would be when they did inevitably see the injury.

"Sure, mom… I'm just having some problems moving it," Ligala raise up her bandage covered right arm. She had lost the lower half of her hand to the fire. She had to have her pinky ring and middle fingers removed, leaving nothing but her thumb and pointer fingers.

 _"Oh god…"_ Luna bit her lip.

"Eek…!" Luryn whimpered. They all then heard a loud thud. One look to the left showed a now fainted Lincoln lying on his side in the floor. Despite all the anticipation and mental preparation, nothing could prepare him for witnessing his now partially amputated daughter.

"Dad?" Ligala chirped, trying to get out of bed, but she got shoved back down by the cheerleader.

"Don't even _**TRY**_ to do anything stupid like that again! You need to rest! You're not getting a single foot out of that bed without a nurse me or your parents help," Luryn declared with her upset tone. Luna was already crouched down beside her practical husband, trying to wake him back up. She half expected this reaction, she hoped she did not need to request doctors aid for him as well.

"Luryn, you look like you've been crying… Don't tell me you think this is your fault?" Ligala asked, worried. She felt the cheerleader captain carefully wrap her arms around her.

"Of course I think it's my fault! I'm looking at my cousin after she mutilated herself in front of me, just to save me from my own stupidity! All because I got blinded by jewelry and love… Like a stupid bird… a blind, stupid little bird!"

"Don't be like that… y'know, it's funny… They're gone, but I still feel like my fingers are all there," Ligala claimed, looking down at her partially amputated hand. She imagined it would take her bodies nerves some time to get used to lacking those appendages.

"Wait… _'your cousin'_ …?" Ligala tilted her head confusedly. Normally, she was the one to confuse people. Not the other way round.

"Yeah…Believe it or not." Luryn nodded, "My parents came and ran into yours. It made my mom cry a lot... We're apparently related."

"Heh… I told you," Ligala grinned, believing it easily, "friends and family were the keys to life…"

Luryn smiled, she then presented the toy joystick to her cousin.

"Oh hey! That's my key to me!" Ligala happily took the joystick back. The cheerleader captain helped put the necklace back onto the hospitalized girl's neck.

"I took care of it for you while you were being treated. You did save my key to me and gave up three of your fingers for it, after all… You do a lot for your friends, don't you?" Luryn questioned, still feeling terrible for having assumed this whole time that her cousin was trying to get something from her through this means of attempted friendship.

"I do my best for everybody. Every new person is just a new friend not yet made after all," Ligala nodded, her bright expression unchanging. The news of their relationship as cousins was a boost to her spirit. Luna started to lift Lincoln off the floor, setting him down in a nearby chair.

 _"Ohhh, my head…"_ Lincoln groaned, starting to waken up. He would not be mentally stable for another few minutes. He may have dealt with animals that had faced amputations on large scales, but to see his own daughter missing fingers felt far worse for him.

"Ligala, there are some things we need to tell you… I'll let your dad explain the biggest one, when he gets his brain back in place," Luna claimed, leaned over with her elbows resting on the side of her daughter's bed. Luryn was seated beside her cousin.

"There's more news? How can things get much better than me finding out I have a cousin?" Ligala was tired, but eager to know. The blonde cheerleader was unsure if she was being sarcastic or not. She really wondered if Ligala had thought she only had a mom and a dad with no other living family tree connections all this time.

"Well… Look, sweetie, this might be a terrible night to remember, but it's also going to be remembered as a good one," the rock star scratched her head, trying to think of the best way to put this good news. She had to start from somewhere.

"I've spent a year trying to convince your dad to have another baby with me…" Luna explained, "After our date last night, while you were out with Snow, we spent a few hours watching your old baby videos."

"Really? You want to have me be a big sister?" Ligala chirped, seeming happy at the news so far, but finding it not so surprising. She knew her parents had talked about something important on and off weekly for a long time. She had a hunch it involved having a child.

"I'm not gonna lie to you. Me and your dad are a little drunk right now… we were working on it," Luna finished with that bit of news. They had gotten the call from Luryn to rush to the hospital during their third round in bed. After re-watching all of those recordings of Ligala growing up, they had finally convinced Lincoln to agree to have a second child, as long as Luna agreed to be awfully lazy and often visit the doctors.

"Oh…" Ligala nodded, "So the reason you two look so rough, is because you were having sex?"

Luna nodded, she reached over and rubbed her daughter's head. "At least school saved your father some of the hard work… Seriously though, don't get any dumb ideas about using sex to make friends. Your dad would kill you me and anyone that touches you if you did that."

Her daughter gained a bright blush on her face.

"Mom, I've never thought of doing that! I'll do a lot to make friends, but even I have limits!" Ligala reassured. Her mother was more relieved to just know their daughter had her head screwed on straight in that sense.

"Oh, so how much effort do you think it took you to decide to stick your arm in a campfire?" Luryn rhetorically asked. Her cousin looked to her with that same smile.

"Not much effort at all! I just reached in and dug around until I felt something that didn't crumple apart in my hand," Ligala claimed, once again exhibiting her dull mind when it came to rhetorical banter. The blonde cheerleader captain did not want to start discussing it again. It made her feel sick just thinking back to it.

"Okay, you two calm down… We'll find out if you're going to be a big sister in a week, when things can be really accurate," Luna insisted. She would call Lori and Bobby in here to help calm them down if they couldn't themselves.

"Sorry, Mrs. Loud…" Luryn apologized.

"Yes, mom…" Ligala murmured with the slightest bow she could perform on the medical bed.

"The other thing I want to tell you is that Luryn's parents… I mean, one of your aunts is out there in the waiting room. I wanted to tell you because you might remember her," Luna claimed, noticing the teenage girls hurt arm shaking a little. She assumed it was the cold chill of the room sinking in. The rock star mother pulled the blanket up a little to help cover her daughter up more.

"One of my aunts? How many aunts do we have?" Ligala asked the cheerleader captain with a raised eyebrow.

"A lot… Like… I think nine," Luryn's answer shocked her cousin, almost making her eyes bulge out of her sockets.

"She's not lying… All those times you said you were missing something big from your life, you were probably thinking about all of them, and maybe your grandparents," Luna stated, informing her daughter of the source of this empty gap sensation she had been feeling in her life for the longest time.

"I just thought my grandparents were dead! Why'd you wait until now to tell me about all this? " Ligala eagerly replied, "I want to meet them all!"

"Because your aunts were horrible," Lincoln suddenly chimed in, catching their attention. He had snapped out of his daze midway during that conversation.

"What do you mean dad…?" Ligala never had heard her father talk so badly about someone. It scared her to know that he would talk about his own siblings like that.

"Your aunts all are very unique, just like you… Me and your mother left without a trace because they were too dangerous to raise you around them. When they're upset, they start doing terrible things. We weren't going to tell you anything until you turned eighteen," the veterinarian looked to the floor. Either he was trying to resist his depression or was attempting to avoid looking at his only daughter's injury.

"Mom told me that, too…" Luryn sighed. Lori had also realized the dangers of raising children in the Loud house, upon realizing the risk posed with so many living in one home with a mob mindset. Lori and Bobby thus had to move to this part of town shortly after they had first conceived their child.

"I'm sure they've changed! But what about mom's side of the family? You've only told me about yours, dad," Ligala requested, not seeming to care about why things were meant to remain secret for another five years. The animal doctor held his head in his hands, burying his face into his palms. He was unable to believe this day had come so early.

"Your mom's side of the family is also my side of the family…" Lincoln simply tried to say the words to get them out of his throat. Luna and Luryn remained quiet to let him speak.

"I… don't understand…" Ligala sighed, wishing things were not so cryptic. She was not that socially smart. She wasn't smart in general, really.

"What your fathers trying to say is…" Luna felt her husband's hand on her shoulder.

"No, honey, I should be the one to tell her… I love you enough to not be afraid now that the time's come, even if it's really _**REALLY**_ early…" Lincoln exclaimed.

"Lincoln…" Luna smiled. It was sweet to know he could bravely tell the truth himself, instead of leaving it all to her. The young man leaned close to his daughter.

"Ligala, try not to scream too loud… Your mom and I are brother and sister."

"G-geehh?" Ligala stared at him, straight faced. It seemed her brain was overridden into needing to take time into registering it all.

"You weren't planned at all…" Lincoln paused to form what he felt were the correct words, "I was sixteen when you were first born, you and your mother nearly died. But you should know, it isn't all bad. Every last one of your aunts and your grandparents know about our relationship too, and even if it took a while, they finally agreed with it... Kind've."

"So… I-I'm a genetic monster?" Ligala stuttered. Luryn could not answer that, mainly because she did not want to be cruel with the truth behind the answer.

"Oh baby, you're no monster! You're Ligala Loud! The only thing about you that could even be considered monstrous is that really giant heart you have for your friends," Luna was upset to hear this from their daughter. She had been worried how Ligala would react to this revelation, there was no one the Loud rock star could have asked about what to expect with this. There were not many sibling couples out there, and the few there were did not exactly go parading their incestuous relationships around for good reason.

"You're the best thing to happen to our lives! I don't want to ever hear you talk bad about yourself like that," Lincoln carefully wrapped his arms around Ligala to reassure her with a hug. Luna joined in the hug.

"If it makes you feel better, Tagon's parents are siblings too," Luryn spoke.

"Wait, really?" Ligala chirped in surprise, wishing she could return the hug to her parents, but her body was too weak to do so.

"Not that you could tell. It's like they forgot themselves," the cheerleader captain stated. Love could do a lot of things to lives. She had met them enough to know, similar clearly applied to this situation.

"So… Ligala, what do you think?" Luna asked.

"We understand if you're upset with us for keeping it secret from you until we found out about your cousin…" Lincoln sighed, waiting for their daughter's feelings on the truth. They had Luryn to thank for causing this early discovery for Ligala, but they were partially at fault too for being so oblivious to their nieces existence.

"I want to meet them all… and I'm hungry," Ligala grew a big grin on her face, "I need to be their friends after all!"

Those words made her family breath out a sigh of relief. Ligala looked at the joystick dangling from her neck like it was a good luck charm that had fulfilled its purpose.

"You're gonna meet them soon… since we know if we say no, you'll go out of your way to hunt and track them all down with Luryn's help," Luna cast a gaze to her niece. The cheerleader captain nodded, not able to deny that. She would do anything for Ligala after she had saved her locket for her.

"But let's focus on getting you better first," Lincoln shook his head, wanting to have his daughter's damaged arm heal as much as it could before they could plan a family gathering. Suddenly a knock sounded on the door that stole their attention.

"Excuse me, there are some people out here asking if they can come in," the nurse chimed in.

"They're family. Don't worry about it," Lincoln nodded, motioning her to go ahead and let them in. The nurse stepped aside to let Lori and Bobby enter into the room. Luryn smiled, getting up and going over to hug her parents, still emotionally stressed out. The young girl needed the relief.

"Luryn… It's like you've become a whole new person," the oldest Loud sibling spoke. She and Bobby unsure if they were happy with their daughter's drastic change.

"You look a lot better without all the jewelry, though I can't imagine how much your neck hurt from putting up with that," Bobby added. Luryn could not deny that. It was even worse to do any cheerleading moves with all that jewelry on. She was glad to have taken them all off.

"I haven't changed mom. I just had my eyes actually opened… The only necklace I need is this locket," the cheerleader captain presented the precious, slightly burnt item. She still needed a new chain for it. Bobby pulled his daughter into a hug, happy to see her acting so much more enthusiastic

"Hey there, Ligala…" Lori went to her niece's bedside, "wow, you've really grown up a lot."

"I doubt you remember us. You were barely a month old the last time we saw you," the Santiago man added. He still remembered the day that the sub-family vanished. Bobby did everything he could to help search with Lori secretly for them, but they had found nothing. After a long week, she made him stop hunting despite his insistence.

"I remember having nightmares about you when I was five. All you did was keep screaming at me until I woke up," Ligala told her aunt. The answer gave Lori a nervous expression, aware that she had done her fair share of shouting in front of her, but it was always to their siblings for various reasons.

"Well… I'm glad you remember me at least," Lori replied. She was still trying to get over her embedded terror. She never expected to see her niece with nearly half of her fingers missing.

"Sorry. She doesn't hide much that's on her mind," Lincoln apologized to his oldest sister.

"She's about as clever as her dad," the rock star grinned. Her significant other had no idea whether that was an insult or not.

"The room's getting cramped…" Luryn murmured. Bobby noticed something on the small table meant for patients to use when they were going to eat their food. There was a tiny plastic throwaway cup, and inside of it there were red and white pills.

"Hey, what are these?" Bobby asked, curious if the nurse left it in here by accident.

"Oh. Those are painkillers. They wanted me to take them, but…" Ligala's voice trailed off. The pain overwhelming her arm made her shake a little, she knew the healing would hurt just as much.

"What? **_Oh!_** Uh… well here," Bobby tried to give them to Ligala, but she pushed his hand away.

"Just put them in the trash… Please."

"What? But you need this really badly!" the pregnant blonde woman argued, not getting a response from Ligala, "I couldn't survive when I had my wisdom teeth pulled out! I can't imagine what kind of pain you're feeling!"

"She's afraid of pills…" Luna stated.

"What?! You weren't scared to stick your entire arm into a bonfire, yet you're afraid of a tiny pill!?" Luryn was in awe, unable to believe the practical insanity behind her cousin's mindset.

"She choked once when she was eight and wouldn't take them ever again, no matter how nasty the other choice for the medicine was," Lincoln explained. That choking lasted less than forty seconds, it was not much time, but long enough to have scared their daughter into keeping her mouth shut from pills. However, her parents usually just tricked her by claiming they were sugarless candies due to the very similar size. Ligala was none the wiser to it either.

"Fire isn't scary at all though…" Ligala said to her cousin. Lori held her head in disbelief. Bobby was doing his best not to laugh. It was cute to him, but still strange.

"So what have you been doing now, Lori? You can guess what me and Luna do now," Lincoln knew if the pain was this unbearable, his daughter would smarten up and take the medicine.

"A veterinarian and a rock star… Can't say I expected animal treatment to be what you'd grow up to do, Lincoln," the oldest Loud commented. Early on in the decade, some members of the Loud family tried to get to Luna through one of her concerts, and none succeeded, Lincoln always had a plan to counteract any attempts of sneaking in.

"After what happened, I decided I needed a way to control my anger and put it into something else… I began studying to become a judge, because I knew I'd have to be the clearest and most in control of my emotions if I wanted to be one," Lori happily motioned her head toward her and Bobby's daughter. "And raising my daughter's been its own fair share of trouble… Honestly, she's been so much like me that I never imagined I'd see her as herself."

"Congrats on the second child," Luna smiled, "you have any idea if it's a boy or a girl?"

"We're going to let it be a surprise. It seems kind of weird to know something in the middle of it all…" Lori shook her head. It was a decision both she and Bobby had agreed on for both children.

"I really don't see you controlling your anger at all how does being a judge help with that?" Lincoln questioned. they watched Lori pull out her cellphone after a few moments. She handed it to her brother. Ligala, Luna and Luryn all leaned over to see the video that was loading up.

* * *

 _ **"And you think what either of you've done is okay?!"**_ Lori's booming voice was the first sound after a loud bang of her fist hitting her table, making the gavel on it bounce a little. The video showed her anger at its limit. Two girls stood before her, the defendant and the plaintiff. Having been silenced after a short argument between one another.

"So what you're telling me is, you voluntarily gave up half of your liver to save the one you loved without insurance, the doctors did it because it was a matter of life and death… So one of the doctors claimed you were their daughter, and had you put on their insurance so they would be allowed to do said surgery," Lori repeated all that had been said in this last short time, even after this court hearing had been going on for hours.

"That's right…" the plaintiff nodded, "She broke up with me the second she woke up. I felt so used and now everyone is out for my blood and money. I need help covering all this. It's too much for me to handle alone!"

"I tried everything else that even had a small chance to work if it meant avoiding that surgery… It all failed, and she wouldn't let me wait for a donor, I know I was running low on time, but I still had a few days left!" the defendant told their side. The frustrated Lori picked up her gavel, looking to the defendant.

"So, what I'm looking at before me, are two _ **idiots**_. The first idiot did drugs and tore their insides apart and was ungrateful for her second chance at life that had been given to her, since someone saved her from her own screw up. Even if they went through all the trouble to waste **_MY_ ** time that could've been spent helping people with _**REAL**_ problems. What really is sad is that most of this won't matter. The second she steps out of this court room, she'll spend the next few months of her life in a rehab center, _**IF**_ she's lucky. Until she gets addicted again, then the circle of idiocy will continue in full." Lori looked to the plaintiff, "And the second idiot, instead of moving on and working hard to pay back what the insurance company wants and be happy that she saved someone's life, decided to instead get even further into her debt and clog up the court with a case, that she was told several times before now that she had no chance of winning."

Both people looked slightly upset with her aggressive perspective, mainly because of how much shame they felt now. They swore the people watching from the rows of seats were silently laughing at them.

"Case dismissed. Both of you get lost. You have enough problems of your own to deal with… Thanks for wasting the time I could've spent on **_REAL_** cases and helping out people that needed it. But hey, you can sleep easy knowing your lawyers will be able to support their family with the money."

The gavel struck and the video ended.

* * *

"…What?" Lori asked, noticing everyone looking at her in slight shock. She crossed her arms. "There's a reason I never take my husband or my daughter to let them see mommy work."

"I'm not complaining…" bobby shook his head. Lincoln returned the phone.

"Me and Luna have an announcement to make, but we'll save that for the gathering… why don't you bring us up to speed on how everyone else is doing?" Lincoln requested. Lori sighed, rubbing her head.

"Our family's more scattered than ever now. A lot of them spend their times out for days sometimes, and all of the older family members moved out," the blonde woman declared. It was just life naturally moving forward.

"All the more reason to give them a heart attack when we see them next time," Luna laughed. Ligala and Luryn looked eager to see the rest of their family. The cheerleader captain had seen them all before, but never all at once.

"Well Lori, tell me how to find them all and I'll get to work when the sun comes up," Lincoln cracked his hands.

"Alright, little brother," his older sister could only smile. She knew he already had a plan in mind. "…but you better get your phone out to record what I say, because it's a lot."

* * *

"I figured I'd be done handling my family's problems when I moved out…" an exhausted Lincoln sighed to himself, while driving in his car. Lori had left with Bobby to gather up the easiest of the family, leaving her brother with all the work. That was a trend he was definitely not missing from his youth. He rubbed his head sorely. "Guess once a peacemaker, always a peacemaker. Either I go or nobody goes… But at least I got a couple of hours of sleep… better than nothing, I guess. Well, first stop, the Royal Woods University!"

Lincoln pressed his foot against the gas pedal, wanting to feel a little energy this morning. Going faster would be a nice change of pace. Then again this whole day was going to be another turning point in his life. Reconnecting the Loud family was going to be a pain, and he knew several would most likely hold grudges.

* * *

It took him nearly half an hour to arrive to the University of Royal Woods. For a student to be accepted by the university was nearly impossible. The person who ran the university was not one to be messed with either, but she cared a lot for his staff and students.

"Ah, jeez… Where do I go?" Lincoln looked around upon entering the university. There were six decorative pillars at the entrance, each one having different items hung upon them, seemingly for new attendees.

"There we go," Lincoln saw the schedule for the times of each class. He groaned, realizing he only really had five minutes left before the second class began. He took a picture of the map with his phone before darting off in a hurry to get to the proper classroom, hoping the map copy would be of use.

* * *

"Alright, my future science associates. I do hope you've studied exhaustively, because today we are going to discuss the fourth dimension," the heavy lisp of a girl's voice spoke from behind a desk, scribbling away on a chalkboard. Lincoln stood at the top of the stairs by the room's entrance. The woman was not even in her twenties, yet she wore a lab coat and had brown hair, with thick glasses that were easy to see from this distance. Lisa averted her gaze to her dedicated students. "Now, can an individual tell us what the four dimensions are?"

"Height, width, length and time… right?" Lincoln chimed up from the staircase top, his voice catching his second youngest sister's attention. She looked up to him in awe, and most of the classroom turned to gaze at him.

" _I…_ That's eighty percent correct, but to be exact, in my belief, the fourth dimension is the time in between whichever created object ceases to exist. I suppose an in-between is proper… Frankly, I am only discussing this because there is no proper answer," Lisa responded. It was moreover a challenge to her students. She had begun working at the university as the youngest scientist in existence at the time, at her mere age of twelve. Since then she had helped many out and her research increased dramatically.

"Sorry to interrupt class. I was hoping to get here before it started… I never was the smartest, huh?" Lincoln approached his genius sibling while apologizing. Lisa wondered if she was talking to a delusion brought on by mental exhaustion, but the presence of the students in the room's intense focus on him proved otherwise.

"You're still more intelligent than most of our similar genetically coded relatives," the teenage girl adjusted her glasses. He knew she was nearly twenty years old now, but he did not have an exact age. Lincoln did not get to open his mouth again before he felt her wrap her arms around him.

"Still trying to hide your feelings behind that big brain of yours, huh? Don't worry. I'm not planning on going anywhere this time," Lincoln claimed, rubbing a hand along Lisa's back. He was surprised to then feel part of his shirt dampen. She was silently weeping like she had mastered control of her voice to remain silent, yet her waterworks were unstoppable when her only brother reappeared in her life.

"I apologize, class, I need to go for today! Since there is no real correct answer to what a fourth dimension exactly is due to how many definitions there are to it, you all can do two things. Either stay here for an hour and read, or leave early to cram for your next class as I know most of you are doing during my class," Lisa explained. Her students seemed to understand perfectly fine with remaining in the classroom to do silent reading. They had their reasons to clear out their lives to come to this school. They loved their teacher enough to respect whatever she needed to do.

"Do you want me to carry you?" Lincoln flashed a bucktoothed smirk.

"I'm not four anymore, Lincoln! I certainly am quite heavier than that age as wel ** _-ah?!_** " Lisa was scooped up into her brother's arms. He began to carry her out of the classroom to the door.

"Hahahah! I've had to get stronger to help carry all the animals I take care of. Trust me; you're not much compared to half the dogs I see… Or the occasional young calf," Lincoln responded, the students watching the two leave through a side door, the sound of Lisa's embarrassed tone ringing out as she scolded her brother while lightly punching him for putting on such a display in front of the students.

* * *

After a minute or two of being scolded by the genius, the two took a seat in staff break room. The young man watched as his little sister rummaged through the refrigerator of the staff lounge.

"So you're a university professor now, huh? How long have you been here?" Lincoln asked. Lisa brought over two sandwiches. Lincoln could use them for a late breakfast, even if he did not like most of the contents between the bread.

"It's been a long time… I started here when I was twelve, so I believe… seven years ago? To be quite honest, it was easy to get the job, but it was difficult to mark my place here to let the students know they could rely on me for their knowledge," Lisa responded, sounding not so fond of the memories as much as bitter acceptance, and seeming unwilling to talk about herself. Lincoln was not sure how to reply. He would ease into that since it was an inevitable discussion as they both knew. "What have you been doing, Lincoln? …Beyond fatherhood, of course."

"I'm a vet now… I was thinking I'd be dealing with nothing but dogs and cats, but no, I deal with a lot of different animals… Sometimes I get called out to farms outside of town to help with their livestock," Lincoln exclaimed, seeming quite proud of the role he lived. Animal care was second nature to him practically.

"I guess that can be equated to the lack of having such a large family to take care of? I know when someone makes a drastic life change, they gravitate to something similar in nature or meaning to them," Lisa claimed. It was quite an honorable role to her. She would feel terrible if something happened to her lab mice. Most of them were not even being experimented on because of Lisa's lack of desire to create new inventions.

"I guess so… That doesn't mean _my_ family hasn't been a handful themselves. But I have to ask, Lisa, what made you decide to work here? I never saw you as the teaching type. You helped Leni cheat on half of her tests and helped me study, but that's about it," Lincoln took a bite out of his sandwich. Lisa helped out only Leni with school issues, as she was essentially a broken sponge when it came to absorbing information. It seemed to stick, but it always got jumbled up, making matters worse. Thankfully her brother only needed some tutoring.

"You're correct, my dear brother…" she held her head, "A year or two after you, Luna's, and my nieces unannounced departure I hit a dead end. All of my research had concluded, all of my findings had been reported and one day when technology advances further all of my hard work will be put to great use…"

"Really? All of it? But you never run out of ideas or theories! I mean, it's still great you're going to be known for how much you helped the world," Lincoln reassured, but the genius woman still seemed depressed to be recalling it.

"All that I could muster myself to fathom or do, and any invention I created, blew up in my face," Lisa took her glasses off, "I had hit an impasse with my research and felt as if I had reached my ending… Once a scientist hits a high point in their career, everything they do from there on seems futile. I was considering ending it all. I was exhausted of having everything I do feel meaningless. Our family even started volunteering to be test subjects for my ideas, only to try and cheer me up… I never tested anything on them for that exact reason."

Lincoln was unhappy with what he was hearing. He never expected his second youngest sister to become the type to succumb to depression, let alone hear she had almost attempted suicide because of it.

"…so what stopped you?" he asked. He was not able to imagine his family with any of its members missing, and with how well Lisa normally hid her emotions, he doubted anyone but him would have been able to see her inner turmoil. He was better at reading his family due to how often he had to help them all.

"A revelation did. I ran into a college student who was researching a method to make nerves regenerate faster, in order to help those that underwent hand transplants or full limb transplants. Thanks to me, he was able to finish it. It was then that I realized that what true geniuses live for is not for themselves. They live to help others reach their true potential," Lisa felt she had reached the peak in her scientific career, her sole job now was to teach the future prodigies. Then one day they could reach their high points and help the world as well, as well as continue the cycle of helping other prodigies.

"Heh… You're right," Lincoln put a hand on her head, reading the unstable look on her face that showed the slight emotional wreckage after seeing him again. He stood up, helping her up as well. "Come on, Lisa. We're going to have a family reunion tonight, and it's going to be the loudest one in existence."

Lisa felt an even more refreshing feeling in her heart. She nodded and gave a bright smile, her eyes shimmering in delight to know their family would soon be reunited.

"That would be exquisite!"

* * *

Lincoln and Lisa had driven a good while to the southern part of Royal Woods. They had arrived to the front of a small store, 'Youths ribbons', which displayed dozens of various dress designs at the window. Each mannequin displayed them well for advertisement.

"Alright, this is the place," Lincoln stopped the car engine.

"I think I'll remain here…" Lisa murmured nervously. Her only brother could tell why just by the tone of her voice.

"Fine, fine… I know you don't want to risk being stuffed into a dress," he sighed, giving his little sister the car keys, "Be back in a second."

"As always, you're making sacrifices for our family," Lisa commented. The young man shook his head.

"A good family sacrifices things for each other… Don't think too much on that. I just made it up," Lincoln then got out of the car to hurry along.

* * *

The young veterinarian stepped into the clothing store. One look around showed two floors, the upstairs displaying fancier attire or wedding gowns, some of which were custom made. There was a chime that rung when the door closed.

"Wow… and I thought I'd never be in a store like this…" Lincoln murmured. Luna swore that if she could not go into a fancy dress shop her entire life, she would be content. Ligala was hit or miss on that matter. She just put on whatever clothing she could find. Fashion was one of the last things on his daughter's mind.

"Oh, hello! This is the first time I've seen you here! Can I help you?" A girl in her late teens spoke out to gain his attention. She had black hair that had a blue streak off to the side, she was in a dark blue business dress.

"Huh?" Lincoln looked to her, "Uh, yeah. I need to talk to your boss."

The worker laughed in reply. "Sir, please. If you want _**HER**_ special treatment, you need an appointment. Ms Loud is a very busy woman."

Lincoln held his head. He never thought she would be this popular. "Is there an appointment available for today? I can double back later… Not like I wasted an hour to get here and a quarter of my gas tank."

"Oh, she's free sometime next Sunday… But we're closed on weekends, sooooo," the co-worker smugly responded. The young man face palmed.

"How does that make sense…? Alright, I'll make you a deal. I'll give you forty dollars if you can take her a message. Money is better in your pocket than in your budget after all," Lincoln got out his wallet. It seemed to garter her attention quite well.

"Fine, fine. I'm not even technically an employee here, anyway," she sighed and snatched the money from his hand.

"Great! Tell her that Lincoln is here… Oh, and when she says, _'Lincoln who?'_ tell her Lincoln Loud," Lincoln had the cockiest grin as he slid his hands back into his pockets. She just stormed off in frustration instead of replying. Only two minutes of patient waiting, and he heard an all too familiar voice.

" **Lincoln!** Oh my gosh, it's you!" that familiar squeal pierced his eardrums. When Lincoln turned around, he was pulled into a spine snapping hug.

"Ack! Ye-yeah, Leni! It's me!" Lincoln was unable to return the embrace with his arms being pinned to his sides by an older woman in a baby blue dress that had a fluffy trim on the sleeves and bottom, her sunglasses hanging out of the front of her dress, her long blonde hair still looking as straight and shiny as ever.

"I can't believe it! Lincoln, I was scared I'd never see you again!" Leni tightened her hug on him, while her employee just watched, "Where's Luna and Ligala? Have you been okay? Please tell me you're not going to leave again!"

"Leni! Breathe or you're going to faint," Lincoln insisted. He had hoped that after all this time, his sisters IQ would have improved. It seemed her brain had only grown in the fashion business. The young man helped his sister over to some nearby chairs that were meant for customers to sit and wait.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry…" the Loud fashion designer panted

"Ms Loud can you tell me what's going on? I haven't seen you this emotional since you turned thirty…" the black haired girl requested. Lincoln had to imagine that his second oldest sister had a midlife crisis when that age came. He felt bad for missing out on all the birthdays.

"This is my little brother!" Leni happily introduced the two, "He's the one I told you about, Moira!"

"We already had the displeasure of meeting…" Lincoln replied, keeping the focus on his sister, "What have you been up to this last decade, Leni?"

"Oh, Lincoln. Things were so bad after you left! Nobody had as good a body to make dresses on… Ever since you left, the house was horrible! Lily kept things really together, though," Leni started. She knew Lincoln did not need a reminder of how the Loud house nearly fell apart, if it hadn't been for Lily who knows what would have occurred.

 _"Sorry…"_ Lincoln mused, "I'm not proud of it, but I still believe I made the right decision."

"I know Lincy. It's made sense to me since the start, but… that didn't make it any easier to handle!" She replied. Waking up every day of her life without some family members in her life anymore gave her such gloomy mornings, knowing that she could not help them at all made things terrible. "You see, I started working harder than I ever did before to distract myself. I had stopped caring about trends in fashion and began to make what I wanted to make. One day while I was out, I met a kind, professional fashion designer. He thought I was great, so he helped me out and got me started in the fashion world!"

"You finally made it in huh?" Lincoln chuckled. He was relieved to hear that she was able to shake her own personal depression with the aid of her passion for fashion. "Figured as much when I saw you in a magazine or two."

"Indeedy-deedy! The interviews were weird. It was nice, but exhausting. I wanted to help people look fabulous, even if they didn't have the money for everything, so I started up my own store! Honestly, I could've retired three years ago… I don't think I could tolerate knitting needles being my only tools though," Leni giggled, imagining herself one day being in the same position an elderly person would.

"Things look really good here, but it doesn't look like a place that needs a worker with Moira's... _'spunk'_ …" Lincoln could not help but comment about the worker that was nearby and listening. The fashion designer waved her worker over.

"Moira's technically not my employee. She's just working off her debt," Leni happily pulled Moira into a one armed hug.

"Please keep it a secret, boss. I'm ashamed enough about it…" Moira requested, but she was ignored.

"Debt?" Lincoln raised an eyebrow, "Leni, I thought you were a fashion designer. Not a loan shark."

"Loan shark? I don't know why a shark'd need a loan… But anyway! I met Moira a year ago! I caught her trying to steal a lot of very pricey custom made dresses! Thousands of dollars, I think," Leni exclaimed. Moira looked to the floor in shame. Lincoln stared, his eyes practically bulging out of his sockets.

 _"Oh, for the love of Loud…"_ he held his head in disbelief, "And you brought her here, instead of a police station. Why?"

"Hey, don't go thinking I'm _**THAT**_ stupid, Lincoln. I mean, I am, but I can tell the difference between a bad person doing bad things and a misguided teenager making a mistake. She just needed a hand to help her, and in trade for her giving me help for nearly free, I let her live with me," Leni tried to reassure her brother. Moira for some reason felt more sheepish to now be not known as a thief but a leech.

"I hope she knows to not make another mistake, or she'll wind up getting a visit from all of our family," Lincoln passively threatened. The former thief nodded, brushing her hair out of her eyes.

"I'd never do anything to Ms Loud… I'd be street trash like a lot of other idiots if it wasn't for her, she's like my mother," Moira responded. The long blonde haired woman had a bright smile, she enjoyed being seen in a pseudo mother position, but she felt even more proud to be helping someone.

"Well… I'll trust Leni on this one," Lincoln reluctantly nodded. He felt hypocritical to have berated someone for tolerating a thief when he had incestuous acts with Luna, which in itself was illegal.

"Thanks for the honor, grey hair."

"It's white!"

"I've never seen someone so young with grey hair though… It's a nice style."

"I've had it this color since I was born…"

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

 _"Lucky..."_

"So Lincy," Leni cut in, "What are you doing here? Are you just dropping by for a visit? And where's Ligala and Luna?"

"They're up at a hospital. Ligala did something dumb and got hurt, so Luna's staying with her…" Lincoln paused, "Bad moments aside, I'm running around gathering up everybody, so we can have one big family reunion, tonight. You want to tag in?"

Leni clapped her hands in glee. She stood up and hugged her brother. **"Yes yes yes, a million times yes!"**

She then threw the keys to the store to Moira, she barely caught them. The worker was confused. "B-boss?"

"Consider this a big test! I'm entrusting you with the store for the next day or two, so show me what you're made of by the time I get back! You can scrub my schedule clean too." Leni declared, putting a lot of faith in her employee. Lincoln thought this was the stupidest thing in the world, but he did not know the former thief like his sibling did. He had to stay quiet an let her handle it.

 _"Al…alright, Ms Loud…"_ Moira nervously gulped. With that all said and done, Leni followed Lincoln outside.

"You wanna ride with me? I'm going to go around picking the others up," Lincoln offered, but his older sister shook her head, pointing a thumb toward her white van that she had really only gotten to help carry supplies.

"Thanks, Lincy, but I think I'd be better off helping prepare everything instead of being in your way… I'll see you at home… err, our old home!" Leni exchanged one last tight hug before going off. Her little brother was somewhat relieved to know she would not be coming along. He did not want to imagine handling her while also tracking down his other family members.

* * *

"I take it things went exceptionally well with Leni?" Lisa asked from the passenger seat. Her older brother got into the driver's side, nodding as he closed the door.

"In a way. She'll meet us at mom and dad's," Lincoln put on his seat belt, "Where to next?"

"Max's Macho Studio," the child genius adjusted her glasses, "a prominent place for fighters of all variety to train. It's the closest place from there."

"Well," Lincoln started up the car, "It was nice having healthy teeth while it lasted…"

"Oh, alleviate your tension. I'm certain she won't lay a hand on you."

"How much you wanna bet on that?"

"Fifty dollars."

 ** _"You're on!"_**

* * *

"I haven't seen traffic this bad in a while…" Lincoln mused. He and Lisa were stuck in a traffic jam caused by an accident disrupting two of the three lanes.

"So, what are you going to say when you see her?" Lisa asked in an attempt to strike up conversation. Her brother shrugged his shoulders while drumming his fingers along the steering wheel.

"No idea. I've been doing what I do best in life and making things up on the fly," Lincoln claimed. His second youngest sister did not know how to reply. He was more than aware that his method was more flawed than his normal life had become.

"Hm?" they heard his cellphone ringing. The young man pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Hello?"

"Hey, Lincoln, it's me."

"Lori? How'd you get my number?"

"Luna gave me it," the oldest Loud sounded joyful, "So I just wanted you to know, I got Lucy and Lana. I had to tell them why we're having this reunion though, sorry."

"You did? Good work, Lori! From what you told me, those two would've been the hardest to find. How'd you get them to come with you?" Lincoln had been worried about how large Lucy's practical cult now was, and he knew Lana now had a free apartment in trade of her repair services always being active. The building she now lived in always needed something fixed, it was one of the biggest apartment complexes in royal woods apparently.

"It was easy on one end, but not the other," Lori grunted, "Lana was actually at the hospital getting her wrist looked at, so that was a lucky break. Lucy on the other hand… _ugh!_ Bobby had to drink some pig's blood and now all I can do is hope that he'll be fine and that my baby isn't cursed…"

"Ew…" Lincoln was disgusted to hear this. He knew though that he would be making plans to repay Bobby for his help. He changed his mind fast when he remembered the fact that Bobby had betrayed a bro favor a long time ago. "Most of Lucy's stuff is just evil good luck spells anyway. Don't get too worked up over it. I don't think I can handle you winding up like Luna when she had Ligala. We're on our way to get Lynn. I have Lisa and just sent Leni off to mom and dad's."

 _"Ohh…"_

"What?"

"Lincoln, about Lynn… be careful when you meet with her, please. Out of everyone you upset when you left, she took it the worst."

"Oh… of course…" the veterinarian groaned. He had a safe bet on that guess. "Do I dare ask who took it the second worst?"

"Lola was second, Luan was third. …anyway, I gotta go. See you later, Lincoln," Lori hung up. Lincoln put his phone away, and he looked to Lisa.

"What?" Lisa stared back.

"I think I'm going to win that bet." Lincoln grinned.

"Hmph! You can't predict how things will go. She might be overwhelmed with pleasing endorphin's upon seeing your presence."

"Alright… guess I should be happy I took the job offer with the vet that had the better insurance."

"That, I will certainly concur with."

* * *

"Here we are," Lisa pointed to Max's macho studio. A lot of rather burly people were in the parking lot, conversing like they would weekly.

"I'll leave the keys in the ignition for you," Lincoln said while opening the driver's side door. Lisa instead got out of her seat.

"Sorry, but I imagine you'd feel a lot more at ease with someone who knows human medical aid at your side," she claimed. Her only brother was not going to argue against that. He took the keys out from the ignition. The two proceeded inside, the automatic sliding doors letting them right in.

"Wow I've never felt this uncomfortable since middle school…" Lincoln commented, looking around. Some people were beating up on heavily damaged punching bags. Some were lifting weights, and others were fighting in the two available fighting rings.

"Hey there! It's nice to see some new twigs in the neighborhood," the receptionist greeted the two as they approached.

"Twigs? Apologies, but I have no need for muscle. I chose brain instead of brawn," the university teacher tilted her head in thought, not quite understanding the twig metaphor.

"Newcomers here aren't fresh meat so much as they're known as twigs. People train their hardest to be the strongest branch of the tree! I guarantee our trainers will have you buffer than ever in just a week," she continued. Lincoln flexed his arm, showing the muscles he did have. They weren't much, but he was stronger than an average person his age.

"I've had enough training when I was young," he insisted, "We're here to see someone. Her names Lynn Loud. Is she here right now?

"Oh boy…" the receptionist looked disappointed to not have new members joining the gym, "I'm just gonna warn you right now. If you're paparazzi or a 'fan', you're going to get a very painful dislocation. And we're not obliged to provide medical aid if that transpires."

"N-no! We're her family… So can you tell us where she is?" Lincoln requested once again. The receptionist pointed a hand to the left far end of the gym.

"If her usual routine's being followed, she should be practicing on the speed bag. Good luck," she told them. Lisa did not like the sound of that. She and her brother walked away from the receptionist, both hoping things would go well with their older sister.

Lynn, a now flourished woman, could be seen wearing a tight red training top and shorts, her auburn hair messy and soaked with sweat like the rest of her body. She battered away at the speed training bag, with open fingerless gloves covering her hands, her now muscled arms showing to be as tough as the rest of her body.

"Wow… Lynn, you look strong enough to suplex a bear," Lincoln's voice hit her ears. Lynn took in a lot of breaths in quick succession, looking exhausted from training. She took almost a minute before finally turning around, practically forcing herself to do so out of fear she might have lost her mind and was imagining his voice.

" _Lincoln…?_ And Lisa?" Lynn stared, seeing the young man before her who stood over her height. Lisa still was a head under the sports lover's height, but she accepted her height issue a long time ago.

"It's nice to see you again, Lynn…" Lincoln gave her the bucktoothed smile that never changed from his youth, "I kind've expected to be meeting in a less weird place, but oh well."

"I concur. I don't exactly feel comfortable in a building full of most likely steroid abusers," Lisa added, not really buying that most of the people here earned their muscular strength in a legitimate fashion, but they both knew she had earned hers through nothing but hard work.

"…What are you doing here?" there was venom in Lynn's voice.

"I came to tell you myself that I'm coming back… We're having a family reunion tonight to apologize for what we did, and we also have a very important announcement to make," Lincoln tried to explain with warmness that came from his heart, but he knew the only thing Lynn would give him was either a broken nose or a cold shoulder. He really would prefer a punch to the nose since she would at least acknowledge him by doing that.

"…Where's Luna and Ligala?" Lynn sounded doubtful because of her niece and older sister's absence. She had been through a lot. Her obsession for sports had faded but not without reason, it clearly had taken its toll on her.

"The hospital. Ligala hurt herself and Luna didn't want to leave her side. I already feel like a terrible father for what happened to her, but you don't have to be mad with Luna," Lincoln raised a hand to try and gently pat her right shoulder. She smacked his hand away. Lisa was already growing anxious.

"I'm not mad at Luna. I just don't care. I'm sure everyone else'll be happy to hear you're back," Lynn simply said after finally regaining her breath. It did nothing to help calm her down.

"Lynn…" Lisa was about to speak, but her brother stopped her with a wave.

"Lynn, I'm not an idiot. I know about you being in love with me."

Lincoln's words froze Lynn up with the shock. _"…h-how did you know?"_

"Ah… I see you were far more observant back then than I was aware…" Lisa was just happy that she did not have to go stating the obvious. Whether or not he knew about Lola and Lucy's crushes on him too was not the topic at hand, but still left her curious. She hoped those two had outgrown their crushes at least.

"We've all grown up. You can't hold a grudge over a phase," Lincoln tried to therapy the problem. He could notice his older sister biting her lip in frustration as she shook her head, practically drawing blood from her lower lip.

"It wasn't a phase! I'd been like that for years! I thought it was too at first, but it never left my heart! What did leave was you instead! And you didn't even care!" Lynn exclaimed. She had already shed all the tears she could, but still looked sorrowful. Her younger brother did not know what to say. It took him a minute to gather himself.

"Lynn, it practically killed us to have to leave like that! The video we left explained why! It would've been wrong if we got together…"

"Then why did you never say anything if you knew?! All those times you helped me train… I thought you spent so much time with me because you felt the same. Then I hear you were dating Ronnie Anne only _**AFTER**_ you announce you fucked Luna like a rabbit!"

"Sorry. I didn't realize when I had sex with one of my sisters that I was obliged to have sex with them all…" Lincoln scratched his head, not sure how to reply to that. Lisa looked away sheepishly, not wanting to be reminded of some of the personal experiments she had done on him when they were younger, even if it just was for information purposes.

 **"You…!"** Lynn lost it. She punched him across the face and knocked him down flat onto his back.

"Lincoln!" Lisa gasped, quickly going over to help him up. The young man now had a big bruise on his face. His older sister did not even realize what she had done until then, she stood there in surprise with herself. It seemed to be what he expected.

"Just what I expect from a pro in the MMA," he stood back up, thanking his little sister for her help, "Alright, it's decided then… We'll have a fight. If you win, I'll get out of your hair, and if I win, you have to come to the reunion."

Lynn looked down at her gloved hands. She had been in the MMA for the last half decade and had since rose through the top ranks, practically being known for how merciless she was in the ring. "You're just trying to make me feel better by acting like my punching bag. I'm not going to fight someone seriously who isn't even going to try."

"Lynn, I've had to wrestle rabid and savage dogs for a living and even weirder from odd pet owners… I think I can put up a good fight for you. Who else have you practiced with more?" Lincoln persisted. His sister had a black belt in karate and kickboxing from her youth. He had no idea what to expect from her new, improved self.

"…fine, go grab some of my stuff from the back. It should fit you just as fine," Lynn walked off in a huff. Lincoln saw the worried look on Lisa.

"Are you certain this is a good idea?" Lisa quirked an eyebrow. He shook his head.

"No, but it's really the only idea I have… Also, you owe me fifty bucks now," Lincoln grinned jokingly, but he was surprisingly confident. He wandered to the changing rooms to get ready.

"Chaos is my life and life is chaos… " Lisa took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes,

"Such is the standard for being a Loud, I suppose."

* * *

After a few minutes, Lincoln stood in one of the rings, without his shirt and wearing fingerless grappling gloves.

"I feel uncomfortable enough without my shirt in my own house… Didn't think I'd wind up like this in public," Lincoln sighed. He remembered the many times Lynn had pantsed him in their youth, he had gotten his revenge plenty in trade.

"This can only end poorly…" Lisa though, watching as Lynn stepped into the ring.

"Last chance to save your face," the MMA professional stated, while the two stood across from one another in the ring.

"Too late for that," Lincoln pointed to his bruise, "You really have Lori's anger management skills now, you know."

"Alright, I gave you the chance! Lisa, you get the bell," Lynn ordered. Afterwards the two in the ring put in their mouth guards. Lisa could not refuse if she wanted to. She had to monitor the battle, or someone else would most likely come and over hype it.

"Fine, but only because I understand the rules. I'm just not courageous enough to be in the ring like a referee. I'll fire my emergency tazer if someone goes overboard," Lisa announced. Even if she was a respected teacher, she needed some protection of her own. A ranged stun gun with six shots made by herself was perfect in her opinion.

"Great…" their only brother held his head. He could already see his opponent jabbing at the air. He cracked his knuckles. In mere moments, they finally heard the bell chime. The two siblings began to quickly approach one another. Lincoln had made a plan in mind from the moment he stepped in the building. He just hoped it did not hurt her too hard, but he was more hoping that he could stay conscious long enough to execute said plan.

"Whoa!" Lincoln ducked under a large right hook. He was terrified that he would be out like a light already if he took the hit. Lynn delivered a high right kick to his side. He countered with his own punch, hitting her leg. The young man put up his guard when a flurry of jabs flew at his upper body. His guard was soon broken as his arms were knocked up. Lynn took the chance to hit him square in the chest, causing him to stumble back.

"I think my heart just got bruised… and not in an emotional way," he coughed, quickly shaking it off,

 _"I just gotta make her use that stupid signature move of hers! I have to keep going! If I don't, I'll never fix my family, and I refuse to bring my daughter back to a shattered reunion!"_

Lincoln charged and jabbed forward, distracting Lynn momentarily. He quickly got behind her and wrapped his arms around her, putting her into a lock that restrained her arms.

"Sorry about this!" Lincoln fell backwards midway. He pinned his sister onto the floor in a hard suplex. Lynn seemed to only get angrier from this. She quickly kicked him off her. Lincoln got back up, more shocked at how little to nothing he was doing to her. She swung her right leg in a wide swipe at him, and Lincoln hit her leg to counter it, making her stumble back.

Lynn's eyes flared up with intense rage. She hopped forward. Lincoln readied himself, watching her gallop slightly in some sort of trick fashion, she then swung her right leg at full force. Lincoln wound up his punch and swung back at his full strength, hitting her right leg. He failed to stop it. His fist was knocked aside. He got hit in the head which sent him to the mat. A groan escaped his lips. A shocked Lisa watched as their older sister approached him.

"Are you ready to give up yet?" Lynn asked as Lincoln struggled to get back up. His mouth guard and one of his teeth fell out of his mouth and onto the floor with some blood escaping his gums, he wondered why he even bothered with the mouth item in the first place. Lynn suddenly began feeling a pained sensation from her lower body. After she took two more steps, she collapsed onto one leg and cried out, holding her right leg in pain. Lisa wondered what was going on. She hit the bell again to stop the match. She then got into the ring and hurried over to them.

"Are you two okay?!" Lisa inquired. Her brother nodded as he sat down leaning back with a smile on his face

"I'm fine… I won," Lincoln panted. Lynn gritted her teeth.

"Not yet! There's no way I'd-urk!" she collapsed once more. Her right leg refused to let her back up, _"Wh-what'd you do…?"_ She whimpered.

"I hated to do this, Lynn, but it was the only way," Lincoln huffed, "You've broken all your limbs so many times since you were little. I just kept hitting the one limb that I knew would give away the easiest."

"Hm… really clever. It seems you've just sustained an intense sprain, nothing that won't clear up in a week, at worst," Lisa claimed. Tears were suddenly streaming down Lynn's face.

"I've lived my life as a lie… Everything I worked hard for was for nothing… All I can do is just fight and tell myself that this is a sport! It's not the same though!... _It's not the same..._ " she sobbed. Her brother sighed as he brought himself to his feet and went to her side.

"I know… I found out you quit every team you were once proudly on. Lynn Loud, the girl to go down in sports history as the most versatile sportswoman in the world, now known as one of the strongest female MMA fighters in the country," Lincoln spoke. Lisa certainly knew that she quit and when, but it was still sad. Nobody but her and Lincoln knew her motivation for these drastic life changes most likely. Lincoln knew his family well. He had heard Lynn's biggest worries when they were younger, which, like a terrible nightmare, had come true.

" _Girl… woman… lass… lady…_ It doesn't matter. Nobody cares for female sports! All because it's not as exciting as men's sports. _**Bullshit,**_ I kept repeating that to myself every time someone said this, but it was all true. I haven't felt an actual challenge in my entire life since I first went pro. Every last thing I've done was built up to **_NOTHING!_** All because I wasn't a boy…" Lynn was pulled into a hug by Lincoln. She had tried so hard to change things to see if genders would balance. But none shared her ambition, realizing most of her sports mates complacency was why she quit.

"Why do you think I'm here, Lynn? I'm the first one to beat you… I'm your first real challenge," Lincoln claimed. He knew Lynn could go freely challenging anybody she wanted, and coaches would gladly give her the chance for how much determination she had. Sadly, it was more about money nowadays and safety regulations. Hearing her brother's words made Lynn look to him with an odd twinkle in her eyes, her heart bursting with glee.

"I'm sorry for taking my anger out on you… I know you had to leave, because of us…" Lynn whispered, referring to the family whose fights made up his mind that very day. She felt him wrap his arms around her.

"It's alright… I had it coming after leaving you guys… Now can you please go get the first aid kit from the trunk of my car? Everything's kind of going black…" Lincoln requested. Lisa sighed, forcing him to lie on his back.

"Relax and focus on your breathing," Lisa insisted, "You've most likely sustained a concussion… And a few broken ribs… As well as minor oral damage and…"

"Lisa, please stop. Somehow being told everything that's probably wrong makes it hurt worse…" he begged. Lynn had a weak smile. Those two acted like nothing had ever changed in this long time.

"There's a great doctor here… Hey! One of you guys go find Doctor Earneston!" the professional MMA fighter shouted to some of the onlookers, her leg not up to tolerating any weight on it for now.

"And some ice! A lot of it!" Lisa added. The few people complied and went. Lincoln remained still on the ground, happy to see a look of joy on Lynn finally.

* * *

"Are you sure you're up to driving?" Lynn had a crutch under her right arm with a few hot and cold patches on her sprained leg. The two looked messed up from the clash they had with one another.

"Not remotely… But we still need to go get Luan, Lola and Lily," Lincoln shook his still sore head. He stayed seated in the driver's seat with the door still open, more so using his car as a resting place to try and gather himself currently.

"Then perhaps you'll permit me to commandeer this automobile?" Lisa chimed up beside their older sister. The two looked to her.

"Uhhh… Lisa, you didn't even have a car at the university," Lincoln was unsure about this.

"I do have a driver's license, however! I've just been saving my money until I was truly required to get personal transportation," Lisa presented her driver's license to him. Her only brother groaned.

"It's blurry. You could be showing me a gift card for all I know," Lincoln's concussion was still prominent, but it was a lot better than when it started.

"Sorry Lincoln, but I can't press the gas pedal and you can barely see, so unless you want me to awkwardly sit in your lap or press one of the pedals with my crutch, we have to let Lisa take the wheel," Lynn countered. Their brother did not like the sound of any of their options.

"Fine, fine, fine!" he finally gave in with an audible sigh, "…I'm sure someone who's been studying quantum theory since she was six should be able to do something as easy as drive a car, right?"

"I'll have you know, I've been studying quantum theory since I was three… Lincoln, you ride in the passenger seat, and Lynn, you can lie in the back so your leg can have elevation for relief from pressure," Lisa ordered them both. The two did not argue. It made sense and neither of them wanted to risk Lincoln passing out on them behind the wheel.

"Alright, let's get going. Luan won't believe it when she sees me," the Loud boy smirked the best his beat up face could muster.

"I just hope her son's feeling better," Lynn said, getting herself laid in the backseat. Once they were ready the car began to pull out from the parking lot before heading off to get back on the road

" _Her son?_ Luan had a kid?!" Lincoln was awestruck, not really able to imagine it. Lori had not told him about this at all.

"It's a long story… You can have her explain it to you," Lisa told him. Their brother looked to Lynn who nodded, agreeing with Lisa's advice.

"If what I heard over the phones right, her kid's been sick this last week or so," the MMA fighter claimed. Lincoln groaned, lying back in his seat to attempt relaxation and prepare himself for this reunion with the comedic Loud.

* * *

A short while passed, and they had driven to the Royal Sunset Apartment Complex. The group could see how big the building was. It looked more like a hotel, but in reality, to save up on taking up space, the complex owner opted to make one giant apartment building, instead of multiple shabby buildings apart.

"Alright, let's get going," Lisa stopped the car engine, but her brother stopped the two before they could even get their seat belts off.

"I think it'd be better if I go up there alone," Lincoln claimed

"What? Why? It's just Luan," Lynn inquired her younger sibling scratched his head

"Yeah, but I know Luan… I think this'll be smoother if it's just me, you two wait down here. I'll be back in a minute," Lincoln explained his reasoning, once said and done he got out of his car.

"She's in apartment 531. Good luck," Lisa informed him before he closed the door. The young veterinarian nodded, thanking her before he headed off.

* * *

"Of course. The only elevator for this part of the buildings only allowed to be used when carrying furniture," Lincoln groaned as he climbed up another of many flight of stairs. Each flight was more frustrating than the last.

"There it is… I really should have went after Lynn last," he sighed. Even after Lisa had helped cover his face bruises up slightly with some makeup, it did little to help. When the young man arrived to the correct apartment, he knocked on the door.

"Coming!" the familiar tone called out. After a short time, the door opened to reveal a young woman in a plaid dress, her auburn hair freely reaching halfway down her back, her buckteeth prominent.

"Wow… I never thought I'd see you without braces, Luan," Lincoln spoke with joy. Luan stared in awe, unable to believe the sight before her.

" **Li-Lincoln?!** Is that really you?"

"Yeah. It's really me," Lincoln nodded, nervously smirking, "Sorry for looking so rough. I wound up having to fight Lynn to help her feel better."

His comedian sibling let him step inside her apartment, the door closing behind them. "I figured as much, but don't _'bruise'_ yourself up over it… What brings you over? I didn't hear anything from anybody that you were back!"

"Sorry again. I wanted to surprise everyone with the news about me, Luna and Ligala coming back. We're having a special reunion later this afternoon, so I'm rounding up everybody."

"That's so great, Lincoln!" Luan could not resist the joy that burst in her heart. It was like she wished for such a reunion to happen for a long time now. "I'm so glad you're coming back… What made you finally come back? Or is nearly fourteen years how long you meant in the video?"

"I was planning to wait eighteen years. But judging by what's happened, I take it as a sign from fate to no longer shelter my family from… well… my _own_ family. My daughter's grown up enough. Now she's become herself, and nobody's gonna change that…" Lincoln felt bad just for talking about himself only. He followed her into the living room, where he could see the calm, ambient atmosphere it had. "Anyway, how've you been?"

"Well, you were the best audience I had for practicing my comedy routine with," Luan mused, "After you left, everyone was so down that they didn't even want to give my jokes the time of day, and I couldn't get a groan out of anybody, no matter how bad of a pun I made… it was like everybody hated me for not wanting to be quiet and not moping all the time."

Lincoln felt terrible. He remembered how she practiced all of her new comedy routines on him ever since he was first born to keep that smile on his face. He nervously rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry, Luan. I really wish I could say. I didn't half expect trouble to happen once I was gone…"

"It's not your fault, really. Lily made sure we all didn't kill each other, she put up with my comedy too. We had to have a lot of important long family meetings, but things still went fine… Since I couldn't do comedy at home, I started focusing more on my stand up routines. At one point, everyone online was talking about it. I got big in two months or so. They should be airing the pilot to my TV show, 'Round the Clock' soon."

"Huh…! I heard about that show. And here I thought Luna was the only one to make it on TV," the veterinarian commented. Nearly all of Luna's stage shows had been broadcasted both online and offline. A lot of people enjoyed her music to no end. The two's conversation was interrupted when they heard an infant's cries from the next room.

"It's funny, you mentioned fate actually. Come here, I want you to meet someone," the auburn haired comedian eagerly led her little brother along. He had no clean idea what to expect. "Y'see, I wound up getting put in the hospital a year back because my appendix was about to burst. I had to get it removed, but the doctors found out that I kind of was lacking in the reproductive department… I don't know why it made me so sad, I didn't even want to have children until I found the right man for me, but a week later, after I was leaving my favorite comedy club, I found this."

Luan let him see for himself. He went over to the crib, where he could see a barely one year old infant, with ginger red hair barely on the back of his head. "You _'_ _found'_ a baby?"

"Yup!" Luan went over and picked up the little boy. Instantly, he became content, not hesitating to begin nuzzling into her chest. "Someone left him in the dumpster out back of the comedy club in his cradle and all… I volunteered to take care of him while the police did their job to try to search for his parents."

Luan rocked the young boy in her arms. The scene was precious to her brother. Things became quiet as the atmosphere tensed up.

"And I'm guessing the police weren't able to find anything…?" Lincoln broke the silence.

"Oh, they found plenty… Too much, if you ask me," the bucktoothed woman sighed, rubbing the baby's head. She pressed the authorities to share anything they found out with her, and she quickly came to regret that decision. "He has no relatives left in the country… His dad died before he was born, and his mom apparently abandoned him when he was barely a week old. She didn't even name him. Because she didn't want him to be attached to someone he was going to lose."

"Someone he was going to lose? …That means she had a good idea how much time she had left… I hate to ask, but did her time run out?" Lincoln popped the big question in the calmest way he could word it, which was with a strange metaphor.

"I talked to her face to face…" Luan paused for a second or two, "She had cancer. She told me that when they gave her a CT scan, her entire body lit up like a Christmas tree. The last thing she did was assign me full custody of little Leeonko here."

"Leeonko, huh? …I guess that really is fate playing a long card game… but I can't imagine him better off with anybody else either other than the funniest Loud in the family. You've brought smiles to thousands of faces. Why stop now?" Lincoln smiled. As Luan recalled all of it, she had some tears welling in her eyes. She pulled her brother into a one armed hug.

"It'll be nice to know Leeonko's uncle is here… I really needed to know how you were doing," Luan sniffled, hugging them both. Leeonko looked half asleep. Lincoln was more than glad to see his comedian sibling taking care of others who needed the help. He was happy to be an uncle too, he had no idea why his sister named the infant that however.

"So you up for the reunion? I can give you a ride if you want," Lincoln offered, but his older sister shook her head.

"We'll definitely come! …But I have to get some things ready. So you go on without me. We'll meet up with you and mom and dad's," Luan stated. Her only brother nodded.

"Alright. Take care you two… I better get moving, I have a beauty pageant to get to," Lincoln bid the two goodbye, and he left the apartment. Once out in the hallway, he stretched.

 _"Everyone's been through so much since I left… I feel like such a scumbag for not being able to help them all this time, either… But I'll make sure to do my all for them now,"_ Lincoln began to make his way back downstairs to get back to his car. Only Lola and Lily remain to be rounded up now, _"I've gotta make an impression as a good father to Ligala, anyway."_

* * *

Lincoln arrived back to his car. He saw his two sisters talking. They suspiciously went silent instantly upon seeing his return.

"Sorry for the wait…" the veterinarian got into the passenger seat, "Did I interrupt something?"

"No, not really. How'd things go with Luan?" Lynn changed the topic quickly.

"Pretty well. She barely cried," he smiled, "Her son seems pretty nice too. She said she'd meet up with us at mom and dad's later."

"Just like Leni and Lori. That's quite excellent to hear," Lisa congratulated him. She knew about how hard Luan took their family members leaving. The university professor reignited the car's engine.

"Uh-huh. She really had her hands full," Lincoln laid back in his seat, trying to relax.

"I remember when she told us that she wasn't able to get pregnant… she was really tore up about that," Lynn claimed, remembering it well enough that it felt like it had happened yesterday. The Loud family were weirded out by the turn of events that happened to the family joker. But what mattered to them was that she and Leeonko were well and healthy.

"I just wish I had been around to help," Lincoln felt terrible to have missed out on so many things, "They really did go through a lot of emotional stress."

"I don't think your presence would have done much to remedy anything, other than our family's bonds being unharmed. I do say you're doing quite the admirable job at repairing everything," Lisa reassured. Lily filled his shoes perfectly well while he was gone nonetheless.

"Alright, well… Wake me up when we get to the mall… I really have no idea what to expect from Lola," Lincoln yawned, lying back in his seat. His sisters let him do what he wanted. They had a clean idea how much energy he had exhausted by now, and he had recovered from his concussion enough by now to be allowed to rest.

* * *

Nearly two hours had passed faster than Lincoln could know. By the time he began to wake up, he rubbed his eyes tiredly while looking to his watch.

"What the…? Lynn? Lisa?" Lincoln looked around. His sisters were no longer with him. He saw a note left on the dashboard. He grabbed it, mentally hoping he did not have to go on a frantic hunt after the two of them.

 _"Dear Lincoln_

 _Sorry for leaving you asleep. We thought you needed it. We needed to go handle some things. See you in ten._

 _\- Lisa & Lynn"_

He put the note aside before getting out of the car.

"What I need is to not worry about every last one of my family members whenever I take a nap," Lincoln cracked his neck before stretching. He stepped outside and closed the door. He saw the outside of the Royal Seeds Mall, a place that earned its name for the dozens of trees it had planted.

"Wow. These have grown a lot since I was last here," Lincoln commented, seeing the tall trees that stood as practical charms of good fortune for the mall's many stores. The veterinarian made his way into the mall.

"Yep. This is the right place," he said, relieved. He hated knowing he would have to roam around the mall until he found the place the beauty pageant was being hosted.

* * *

"Alright… Is this some sort've secret pageant or something?" Lincoln was irritated. After a half hour of looking around, he felt that this was not a big event, but he doubted he could miss any amount of women all prepared for this pageant, and would definitely not miss a stage in a mall. It would definitely stick out for him.

"Oof!" Lincoln suddenly bumped into someone, knocking them both down, quite hard. He saw a collection of makeup clattering to the ground.

"Ah, jeez… sorry, I wasn't paying attention," he apologized, trying to gather up all the makeup that fell from the carrying case.

"No, it's my fault. My sister's been upset because she lost her pageant…" a light, gentle voice replied. Once all of the makeup was put back inside of their appropriate places in the case, it was closed and locked tightly. The two helped each other up.

"…Have I seen you somewhere before?" Lincoln looked confusedly at a rather short young woman in a rainbow colored suit and a pair of white sunglasses on top of her head, with a fake water squirting flower sticking out from her shirt pocket. The two items looked quite old. Her long blonde haired was brushed to the left of her head.

" _Uh-uhh…_ Maybe? Sorry for being rude. You look a lot like someone close to me…" the teenager apologized. Lincoln gained a bright smile.

"I only know one person who's as sweet and shy as you…" he wrapped his arms around the girl half his size, picking her up off the ground, "It's great to see you again, Lily."

"Li-Lincoln? It's really you?!" Lily gasped. He suddenly felt the then happy woman's arms and legs wrap around him, making his bruises ache in pain.

"Ow… Y-yeah, it's me, Lily… I missed you a lot too," Lincoln broke the embrace, putting his littlest sister down. The young veterinarian barely recognized her. She had grown up so much in this last decade that it amazed him.

"Why are you here?" Lily inquired, eagerly, "Are you back?"

"Yup, we're coming back," he nodded. He didn't blame any of his sisters for worrying about him leaving again, "We hadn't planned on it, but fate had other plans… so I'm rounding up everyone for a reunion to celebrate. …What're you doing with all this makeup, though? I didn't think you'd be into beauty that much when you got older."

"I don't like makeup too much, but Lola needed someone to help her for her pageant today. She said I have a really steady hand," Lily shook her head, before taking her brother's hand and beginning to lead him along.

"You've really been trying to help everybody you can, huh?" Lincoln was happy to hear this.

"I had to! I wanted to be the best aunt for Ligala," Lily nodded and smiled as she led him along, "Come on! I know Lola will love to see you!"

"I sure hope so…"

* * *

"Oh… so that's why I couldn't find the stage," Lincoln saw a blank, empty part of the mall. Only now did he know that one of the stores connected there had a stage that could extend in and out at will for such events.

"It scared me when it first came out too," Lily knew how easy she was to scare, and did not even try to hide it. She continued to lead her older brother into the nearby small restaurant, one of the many the mall had to offer.

"Wow… that's Lola?" Lincoln was in awe. Across the room, there was a gorgeous young woman with long, shimmering blonde hair, in a pink dress with her tiara hanging from her left wrist. Both arms had long white gloves on them. He could barely recognize his own sister.

"She's really upset right now. She lost to a bunch of new girls. I think it was because of their fresh takes on some dead fashion trends that let them win. But Lola… somehow thinks they cheated," Lily sounded rather sad herself about the whole thing, even if all she was here for was to act as a makeup assistant.

"Sounds like Lola alright. It looks like she got third," Lincoln commented, seeing the bronze medal with a star imprinted on it resting on the table being carelessly used as a coaster. The veterinarian began to approach her. "Think I can buy the beautiful young lady a meal?"

"Back off creep."

"What?"

Lincoln was suddenly blasted in the face by a burst of pepper spray. No word of reply from her, just a cold glare and lachrymator to the eyes. He screamed, and held his eyes tightly as he fell over. **_"MY EYYYYYES!"_**

"L-Lola!" Lily ran over to help her brother, quickly beginning to rummage through her bag for a bottle of water.

"What? It just was another perv," Lola turned her back to them, wanting to focus on her meal.

"It's Lincoln, you stuck up brat! That bitterness of yours is why you lost! No amount of makeup can hide how much of a heartless jerk you are!" Lily got up, grabbing her sister's chair and forcibly spinning her around. The spoiled twin gulped nervously upon having her younger sibling shouting in her face, hating to see her anger. Lily rarely got worked up, but when she did, her rage was thrice more intense than Lori's.

"Wa-wait, _**Lincoln?!**_ Really?!" Lola stood up in shock, looking at the man on the floor thriving in pain.

"Nice to see you again, Lola…" Lincoln coughed. The pain in his eyes made him barely able to speak, even after trying to wash it off with clean water.

"I'm so sorry, Lincoln!" Lola apologized profusely while some of the staff came over to help them. Lily calmed down now that her older sister realized her mistake.

 _"I thought the beating with Lynn was the worst I'd get today…"_ Lincoln thought, feeling dumb for going with that approach. How wrong he was to start the reunion with her by complimenting her looks.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't recognize you at all!"

* * *

After thirty minutes, the trio was seated on a bench outside of the mall. Lincoln wanted fresh air after the burning eyesore was handled. He knew he was not going to be able to drive for the rest of the day.

"You really need to learn to not be such a sore loser… Seriously," Lincoln said while holding his head. Lola's loss probably gave her the itch to take her fury out on someone the first chance she got.

"Mmh…" Lola mused. She felt ashamed enough and Lily had already torn into her over it.

"You've become a pageant star though?" Lincoln then asked, "It's good to know you're now able to get into it like you wanted to when you were younger."

"I was entering a few, but I didn't really get serious about it until I won one when I was eleven… Then I started winning every one after that," Lola rested her head in her hands, letting out a sigh like she missed those days. "It really wasn't the same without you. I had no one to play with at my tea parties or help with my makeup… I only had Lily for that."

"I don't think being a butler half of the time counted as being at the tea party…" Lily smirked. She had to try and keep everyone happy, and filling in her brothers roles was just as important. She had put up and done a lot for and with her family.

"I have so many trophies in the family trophy cabinet now, but lately I've only been adding bronze stuff to it…" Lola sighed, staring at the third place medal. Her only brother shook his head.

"The only trophy I ever received was that one you guys gave me… So really I have nothing," Lincoln responded. It was his family trying to make him feel better, and it did work at first, but he had faked that happiness and gave up on his dreams of a trophy a long time ago. Ligala could count as a living trophy if he wanted to put it in an odd perspective, but he would rather pretend that saving animals and making people happy were his trophies.

"It was not nothing! We made it because we loved you and didn't want you to feel left out… I guess all we did was drive you away with how bad we treated you," Lola stated. They all had been forced to confess their wrongdoings in the family meetings that caused Lincoln's sub-family's disappearance. The beauty lover only had one of her teeth back now, the other still absent.

"I'm not going to lie and say you did nothing wrong… I just know none of you cared for me or what I did if it got in your way…" Lincoln looked at the sky. He could not sugarcoat the emotional wounds Lola had. It would only worsen them really, he knew that much was obvious.

"Lily did as well as she could while you were gone," Lola however then explained, "She even got recognized by the city for all her services!"

"What? Really Lily?" Lincoln looked to then embarrassed Lily.

"It wasn't much…" she murmured. To be wearing the brightly colored suit Leni had made her embarrassed her further, but Lola had insisted that she look the best for this pageant, even if she wasn't participating.

"Volunteering at three different homeless shelters. And not to mention last month, you went everywhere working up the most for a charity to help gather money for that poor cop that got hit by a speeding jerk. You raked in nearly a thousand dollars with all those little jobs, even if you nearly exhausted yourself to do it," Lola continued the praise. She liked seeing their youngest sister flustered like this. The spotlight shining on Lily made her sheepish, and everyone found that adorable.

"You really have become the helpful type, huh Lily?" Lincoln rubbed their littlest sister's head.

"I dunno…" Lily slowly nodded while poking her fingers together.

"All I've done is become a veterinarian. It's nice to help all the animals and people when they don't have the money to spare. They're like family members themselves," Lincoln claimed. In all of his years as a veterinarian, he knew people hated being unable to help their pets all because of money being an issue, since most treatments were expensive. It often resulted in terrible alternatives.

 _"Oh…"_ Lily looked to the ground. Her older sister put a hand on her back.

"She really took it hard when our pets started to… y'know… go to sleep forever," Lola tried to put it as lightly as she could.

"They…" Lincoln paused, turning to her, "They passed away?"

 _"Yes..."_

"Oh…" Lincoln felt sad for them all. He had been trying to not imagine the four pets the Loud family had, but he had a feeling they had expired in the last decade. No pet like a terrier, cat, canary or hamster could live for so long. And even if they did survive, he hated to imagine how they would look.

"Don't worry, Lily. They're in a better place," he gave the littlest Loud a tight hug. Despite her age she still seemed to have quite a height issue. He wondered if it was a medical issue or not, "Let's focus on the good news. Luna, Ligala and I are all coming back. We hadn't planned on it for a lot longer, but a lot of stuff happened… so we're having a family reunion to celebrate. Are you two up for it?"

"You think I'm going to just say no to the same brother I mistook for a creep-o and pepper sprayed? After he had been gone for thirteen years?" Lola joked. There would be no way she could turn him down after all that she had done to him.

"I'm so excited to meet Ligala again!" Lily chimed, "Did I do well as an aunt for her…?"

"You were the best aunt in the world for her. Thanks for putting up with everything. …well let's go. Lynn and Lisa are probably waiting back at my car," Lincoln motioned them to come along. Lola and Lily nodded, more than eager to. The three headed off to get back to their brothers car. He now had gotten the last of his family members. He took in a deep, relieved breath, glad to have finished most of this exhausting day.

* * *

"Oh, there you are!" Lynn greeted their brother, "We were worried when we came back to an empty car."

"I should be saying that to you," Lincoln responded while Lily and Lola caught up. Lynn let the two hop into the backseat with her.

"Hey there, Lily. How've you been doing today?" Lynn let their youngest sister hug her. Lily's habit of hugging everyone she knew might have come from slight abandonment issues.

"Great now! Lincoln and Luna are coming back! I'm excited to see Ligala too!" the young woman announced.

"Lincoln, what happened to your eyes? They look exceptionally irritated despite their recovery," Lisa questioned. Their brother huffed, not wanting to remember it. Lola stayed quiet, still ashamed. Her brother could not blame her for her reaction. He hated to imagine how much obsessive men tried harassing the twin over her looks, so much so that she needed a can of pepper spray on her at all times.

"I got your note first thing when I woke up," he forced a subject change, "Where'd you two go?"

"We had to make a few phone calls and didn't want to wake you up, that's all," Lisa retorted with her usual straight face. He could tell that Lynn was too focused with Lily and Lola to follow along with the excuse. He could sense a real reason for this, but decided not to press her further.

"Alright, well, here's what's gonna happen. You're all going to be dropped off at mom and dad's. Then i'll go get Luna and Ligala to come meet you all," Lincoln declared. They were hoping to see Ligala soon, she had been in the hospital half a day and she was exhibiting no other issues aside from the hand damage. He still felt upset that his daughter will have a few less fingers. It was hard to imagine having to get used to it being permanent.

"Are you sure about this, Lincoln?" Lola asked. She was eager to see their niece too, but they did not want their brother push himself far past his limits.

"Well it's a family reunion. I want to surprise mom and dad with us coming back, so while I'm getting them, you all can work on the party," Lincoln replied. Neither Lori nor Luna would have been able to gather up the entire family on their own. He guessed that they only could really surprise their parents with the news of them coming back.

"I suppose that's logical…" Lisa nodded, "However, I'm going to inject you with one of my accelerated cell regeneration syringes before you leave. It'll not heal you fully but it should at least help your eye sight."

"Alright… If you're sure it won't have any bad side effects," their brother did not want to imagine dealing with stuff he had never heard of before. But he agreed if only not to make himself look more beaten up.

"Don't worry! I've tested it loads of time!" Lynn calmed him down, having been a good test subject herself most of the time.

"I did too, and it didn't work. I only grew one tooth back and Lana only got her other back too," Lola stated, seeming disappointed, but still seemed thankful to have one of the teeth back. But for whatever reason, their other front teeth seemed to be unable to be replaced.

"I still don't feel safe around needles…" Lily murmured.

"Okay…" Lincoln was not too comforted by the mixed reactions to Lisa's invention. The car began to pull out of the parking lot. He lay back in his seat, trying to relax, but hoping that his lover and daughter were still healthy.

* * *

Ligala was finally unhooked from all the IVs and other machines. She felt a lot better after stretching. She looked down at her bandaged arm.

"It's going to take a lot of time to get used to this…" she murmured. She had only her thumb and index finger. She smiled, still happily believing she did the right thing.

"I'm just glad you won't have to spend any more time here. I'm really not a fan of hospitals," Luna stated. She feared with her lover that their daughter would be hospitalized for a lot longer, and after all the trouble that came from her birth, it did instill a slight terror in her heart.

"That makes two of us… It's really hard to make new friends when you're stuck in a hospital bed," Ligala giggled. The worst they would have to put up with was changing bandages once every second day.

"So we're waiting for dad to pick us up?" the teenage girl asked. Her rock star mother nodded while the two began to leave the hospital room. Her cousin had left with Lori and Bobby early this morning to help round up the Loud family.

"Yep! It'll be a long ride, but I think it'll be worth it," Luna nodded as the two passed through the waiting room. Snow was there, asleep in one of the larger chairs. Tagon was wide awake, he had been waiting for them this entire time.

"Uh, Ligala… You're being discharged?" Tagon chimed up, a little surprised. They had not gotten any news of this, but that might be because they were not known to be associated with her.

"Hm? Yeah! I'm getting to meet my family, _finally…_ I really don't know what to expect," Ligala responded while her mother remained idle, still not entirely sure what to make of this pseudo-brute who was two years older than her daughter.

"You weren't just trying to help Luryn with what you did, were you?" Tagon inquired.

"You both needed help. You just didn't know it. I'm glad Luryn was able to help bring you to your senses. After all, I still have to make a friend out of you," Ligala gave an innocent smile and pointed to him. Her damaged arm began shaking again. She grabbed it to stop the trembling, trying her best to hide the agony.

"Don't worry, honey. The painkillers should kick in soon," Luna put a hand on her shoulder.

"Right…" Ligala nodded. To get her mother to relax and not worry so much, she feigned taking the painkillers. In reality, she had spat them into the trash can across the room when her mother's back was turned to get her water.

"You really want to be my friend…?" Tagon was unable to believe it, "You lost your arm nearly trying to undo my stupidity."

"You may have been a troublemaker, and you did punch me like one of your sandbags, but I'll always do my best to be your friend," Ligala exclaimed, "If I can't reach you through all that, then how can I expect to do anything in life? Friends and family are the keys to life, and I'm going to help make everyone's futures brighter! Because I know they'll make mine brighter too!"

Tagon could only stare at her, wide eyed. "You're sure brushing past that horrible moment I put you through with ease…"

"That's Ligala for you. Probably has the stupidest goals and desires with no real skills to speak of, but she has the strongest drive of any person in our school," snow spoke up, having awoken during that talk. Tagon reached up and gripped his chest.

"I'll do my best to make things up to you," Tagon nodded with a bright smile growing on his face, his heart feeling warm from their encounters. He still felt terrible for all he did, but he was more than ready to make it up to her.

"You already did. You're one of the people who led me to my family," Ligala bowed in thanks. Luna held her head.

"Who taught you that, and why do you think it's a normal way of thanks…?" Luna murmured. Her daughter seemed to have no shame with bowing traditionally. Snow walked up, grabbed her head and shoved her back up, making Ligala straighten up.

"How many times do I have to tell you that you look weird when you do that?" he tapped on her head with his knuckle as if he was expecting to hear a conk.

 _"I dunno…"_ Ligala shrugged, rubbing her head.

Luna chirped when she heard a digital noise. She looked at her cellphone. It displayed a text from Lincoln. _"I'm here."_

"Oh! Okay! I'll see you two later! Take care!" Ligala bid Snow and her new friend Tagon goodbye. She and her mother left with haste. The two teenage boys looked to each other.

"So… What now?"

"I'll help you get the jewelry back to your folks' store for ya. I know it must be a pain carrying all that in your pockets."

"Thanks, man. Really… I owe you two everything."

The two went on their own way, hoping their friend's reunion with her family would go well.

* * *

Lincoln waited in the car by the front entrance of the hospital with his window rolled down. He was happy to see his loved ones coming.

"Dad! I was worried something happened to you," Ligala greeted her father.

"Jeez, Lincoln, you look exhausted. Was it really that hard to round everyone up?" Luna asked while helping their child into the backseat, despite her insisting she was fine. Her mother helped put her seatbelt on.

"Stuff happened, but the hard part's done. Everything's fine now," Lincoln claimed, feeling a lot better since Lisa had injected him with that quick healing formula. It didn't do too much, but it was enough to let him keep going despite his body's tiredness.

"I was honestly expecting you to call me for help. I'm glad to know you and Lori were able to handle everything," Luna got into the passenger side. He began to drive away from the hospital, not wanting to be near it anymore. He had dealt with medical facilities enough to last a lifetime. The only hospital he wanted to be near was the animal hospital he worked in.

"I'm glad to know that too…" Lincoln turned to Ligala, "I'll go slow so I don't accidentally hurt your arm, alright honey?"

Ligala shook her head. " _No way! **Speed up!**_ I can't wait to meet my aunts and grandparents!"

"You didn't even know you had any until yesterday," Luna chuckled, finding the eagerness heartwarming. She was just happy to know Ligala was not being shy.

"No way! I've already put up enough with the police when I was young, thanks to one of your aunts when I tried to help her learn to drive!"

"But I can't wait anymore! I might explode!"

"No you won't."

"Yes I will!"

"Nope."

"Yes!"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

 _"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"_

"And here I thought the hard part of the day was done with…" Lincoln groaned, trying to just suppress his ever growing anxiety to see their family again. He hoped the couple could give their parents a good surprise.

"Oof!" Ligala had to calm down when her arm began to tighten like her entire body was hurting. She kept quiet so her parents would not even consider turning around to go back to the hospital. She just hoped her aunts could distract her from the pain.

 _"I hope they aren't the huggy type of aunts..."_

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Lynn?" Lisa questioned. The two were upstairs in their home, in her room. Both looked at a large wrapped box. They had not moved out, if only because they wanted to help take care of their parents. Lisa and Lola had moved into Luna and Luan's room.

"Hey, he didn't know it was in his trunk to begin with. I sure hope Ronnie Anne doesn't drop the ball," Lynn muttered. They relied on the Santiago girl for the real special treat of this reunion, though they knew how infuriated she was that they made their request at the last minute.

"How's your gift coming along?" they both heard a girl over by the doorway, with long black hair covering her eyes and running down her back. She was in a black and white striped dress and long socks as well.

"Done and done. How are the preparations going?" Lisa asked.

"Lori screwed up in the kitchen, so she's been stuck with babysitting. Leni and Luan took over, and everyone else is cleaning up the outside," Lucy explained. The house was most likely cleaner than it had been in the last year. The family did their best to clean things, but an old home was hard to keep up with.

"I'm just surprised some of you are making presents for Ligala…" Lynn claimed, "None of us know a thing about her! Are you sure she'd like them?"

"It's supposed to be the thought that counts, I believe," Lisa retorted. The three left the room to go downstairs. Lynn however knew their gift was meant for Lincoln's family, and not for only Ligala.

"Wow… I can smell everything from here," Lynn smiled as they stepped outside, seeing all the food placed out on a table that their family had worked hard to prepare. Lori was seated nearby, feeding Leeonko a little early since he had been hungry.

"The centerpiece is all that's missing," Lori smiled. She may be a bad cook, but good with organizing things to look pretty.

"What's the centerpiece supposed to be?" Luryn asked.

"Lynn and Lisa said they had it handled," her mother shrugged. She considered putting a picture of their family when they were all younger, but she knew it might give away the surprise.

"Hey! Can I and Bobby get some help? The front yard's okay but the back still needs some more work," Lana chimed up, her red cap damaged and her hair messy and stuck up from all the dirt in it. She was in a pair of dirty overalls from all the cleaning. She loved doing the grimiest work.

"I'm coming I can't do any heavy lifting though," Lynn said, her leg still not healed, but she could walk. Lucy followed to help Bobby and one of the two twins. The Santiago boy was perhaps working the hardest simply to please Lori.

"Lola's doing a perfect job distracting mom and dad," Lori stated. Lola had faked an existential crisis, pretending that coming in third had tore at her very soul because of the competition, so the Loud parents were trying to console her the best they could. The sisters had to inform Lucy and Lana about the reunion's reasoning. Otherwise they would have simply refused to come. This left just the Loud parents, Lynn Sr. and Rita themselves, unknowing of the reason behind it, and they had to make sure those two did not know yet.

"I got my present ready!" Lily cheerfully came out from the house, carrying her wrapped gift, the bow tied neatly on top

"Aw… that's really sweet, Lily," Lori gave a one armed hug to Lily, glad to see her overjoyed like this. It was actually great to be back home with nothing but a bright, shining aura of positivism radiating around it. This was the happiest the judge had seen her entire family in years.

"Hm? Is that…?" Luryn tilted her head upon seeing a silver colored car beginning to pull into the driveway. They knew it was not Lincoln's car, but the cheerleader captain had an idea who it was from familiarity alone.

"Man… talk about a long drive. My legs are killing me," Clyde stretched upon getting out of his car. He had more casual attire consisting of a blue and yellow colored shirt that had spiral patterns to it with a brown jacket on top.

 _ **"Principal McBride?!"**_

"Clyde? That's seriously you?!" Lori gawked, as surprised as her daughter. Luan's adopted son began giggling upon seeing their faces.

"I'll make myself scarce," Lisa headed off back inside to go help Leni and Luan with the cooking.

"Hey there… You can just call me Clyde here, Luryn, we're off school premises," Clyde gave a gentle wave back. They saw the passenger side door open up, and a young, tan-skinned women stepped out.

"Yay! You came!" Lily ran up and hugged her. Her long black hair was done back into a ponytail, and she donned a purple shirt top and jeans.

"'Course I came. I'm an aunt too, y'know," Ronnie Anne gently returned the hug. As luck would have it, she, like her brother, started to work more jobs than they needed to, and it was all because she could do it. She was unsure how, as well.

"I'm Lincoln's bro first. Luryn and Ligala's principal second," Clyde laughed, the two going to the back of the car to open the trunk a few decent sized boxes rested inside of it. The two of them worked together to carefully get the first out.

"Where do you want us to set this down?" Ronnie Anne inquired, Lori pointing to the table.

"Center of the table. Leave the cover on top of it. I want it to be a good surprise," the short blonde haired woman declared. Luryn and Lily went to help with carry the surprisingly heavy box. They assumed this is what happened when they had a family as big as theirs.

"Whew… there's the first part of it. Now to get the next two bits from the back," Clyde was relieved to know that each box was lighter than the last, but they would pile up on the table in a stack after a while.

"Oh hey! You showed up!" Lynn called out happily. She had come at the sound of the car entering the driveway. She expected it to be their brother, but to see Ronnie Anne and Clyde instead relieved her. The two were on time, too.

"Hey there, little sis!" Bobby waved, following behind the sports lover, his arms open and offering a hug. Instead, Ronnie Anne shoved a box in his hands to add onto the stack for the table.

"Nice to see you too, Bobby," she huffed a sigh of relief, glad to get the weight out of her arms. She never expected to be at a family reunion that was bigger than her family's. Lori tried her best to suppress her laughter at seeing the two's interactions.

"Mom! Dad! They're here!" Luryn called out. Lily grew more eager each passing moment. They could see the all too familiar car coming down the road.

"Looks like just in time too," Lori was relieved. They had finished getting all of the preparations set up. "Alright, go get everyone. We'll give them one Loud family welcome."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lynn nodded, going off to fetch the rest of their family, letting the others stay there. The car came to a halt along the sidewalk.

"I never thought I'd come back here," Luna yawned, getting out from the passenger seat, looking at the home.

"Luna!" Lily ran over, practically tackling the rock star sister.

"Oof! Easy there, Lily… I'm not as young as I used to be," the rock loving Loud returned the hug. She was happy to see how much their youngest sister had grown. She was eager to see their whole family.

"Nice to see you guys again," Lincoln greeted Clyde and Ronnie Anne upon seeing the two. He was not too surprised that they would show up to this reunion.

"Lookin' good as always, Lame-o," Ronnie Anne smiled, playfully punching his arm. He guessed that no matter how old, she would always be his bully.

"A little worse for wear, but can't say I'm not surprised," Clyde chuckled, Lincoln giving his best friends a tight hug in response. Lori and Bobby found it sweet to see. They were glad those three had been able to remain great friends since their youth, despite the hardships that once threatened to crush it.

"Principal McBride? You're part of my family?" Ligala stepped out from the back of the car, confused why her principal was here. She felt like she knew the Santiago woman though.

"Haha! I like to think of myself as an uncle of yours. I've been your father's bro for a long time," the principal adjusted his glasses before ending the embrace, "I'm glad to see you out of the hospital in one piec- _**WHOA?!**_ "

 _"What the hell happened to her…?"_ Ronnie Anne was at a loss for words.

"Ligala?" Lily looked her niece over worriedly. Ligala stood there with her bandaged arm, confused. It took her a moment to realize why they were surprised. Lori, Luryn and Bobby kept quiet, deciding to just make sure Leeonko was alright. Thankfully the baby boy did not seem to be startled.

"Oh, this?" Ligala held up her bandaged covered limb, "It's nothing. I stuck my hand in a campfire to help get Luryn's locket back."

"I feel bad about it already, but can you at least pretend that it was a bigger deal than you make it out to be?!" Luryn had the locket dangling around her neck on a new chain. It was not much but it was enough for her.

"But it's not a big deal… I'm here to meet my family. I don't want this to be all about me," Ligala responded. To her cousin, for some reason, it felt like a deep cut to her heart. Seeing someone so happy to not care about themselves made her cringe.

"Well you're gonna get a good bit of attention, trust me," Lincoln warned his daughter, rubbing her head and messing up her hair slightly.

"Um… Ligala… do you remember me?" Lily sheepishly inquired. Ligala tried to think back but she was familiar

"I've seen someone that looked a lot like you in some of my dreams… they were just me as a baby being rocked by someone in an old chair," Ligala responded. Lori felt a little insulted about that since all she was remembered from were nightmares, but she was not too surprised that Lily was remembered more favorably.

"I'm glad you're all back," the youngest Loud gave her niece a hug, trying her best not to accidentally hurt her injured limb.

"Oh no! They are the huggy type! **_They are the huggy type of aunts!_** " Ligala squealed. Lincoln and Luna laughed a little. They knew their family would be careful with her and avoid causing any pain.

"Whoa! That food looks delicious…" Lincoln commented, seeing the giant table prepared with a long variety of various favorites of the families.

"Why's the ground shaking…?" Ligala worriedly asked, swearing that she felt the ground rumble a little.

"You're about to experience your first Loud stampede," Lori warned her niece. Luryn was already hiding. Lincoln and Luna sighed, just getting ready for the giant welcome home.

"My first what?"

As was predicted but before she could get an answer, they saw the whole family rushing out of the house to mob Ligala.

"Ligala! Wow you've grown up so much!"

"What happened to your arm?!"

"Oh, I don't care how much you're missing! It's so great to see you again!"

"I didn't think it'd cost you an 'arm' and a leg to get here!"

"That was just terrible, Luan, in all senses of the word."

Lincoln, Luna, Lori, Bobby, Clyde, Ronnie Anne and Luryn just watched the joyous mobbing. Doubting they should or could participate.

"Lincoln? Luna?"

"Is that really you…?"

The Loud parents stood outside the front door with Lola and Lynn having escorted them out. The Loud parents looked barely aged, aside from more wrinkles and a little less hair.

"Hey, mom and dad…" Lincoln nervously replied, "It's been a while."

"It's great to see you both again," Luna warmly stated. Their parents brought their long gone children into tight hugs.

"I never thought we'd see you again…!" Rita sobbed, her head resting on Luna's shoulder. The rock star was caught off guard by how emotional their mother was now, but she really couldn't blame her after what they had done.

"Son, you've really become a man since I last saw you," Lynn Sr. smiled, proud to see their son.

"You should see one of my co-workers. He's big enough to wrestle cows," Lincoln laughed jokingly. The Loud parents had just assumed their family were setting up a surprise reunion for the two of them, and they were overjoyed to be half wrong.

"Where's Ligala? Is she with you?" the mother Loud requested. Their rock star daughter pointed a thumb to the happy crowd behind them.

"She's meeting her aunts… in an interesting way," Luna said. Lori sighed before bringing her fingers up to her mouth and letting out a loud whistle, making them all stop.

"Alright, calm down, everyone. They should be the first to talk to their granddaughter," the eldest Loud sister ordered. Everyone understood and immediately cleared out, seeming apologetic for how over excited they were.

"Uh… hi," Ligala approached her grandparents, a bit shaken up and overwhelmed from everything.

"Is that really you, Ligala?" Rita asked. Seeing her right arm was a bit scary for her grandparents.

 _"What happened to your arm…?"_ Lynn Sr. hesitantly inquired.

"I burnt three of my fingers off saving Luryn's locket," Ligala answered with a hum to her tone. She was beginning to get tired of having to explain this to everyone, and didn't want Luryn to be feeling apologetic about it all day.

"Yeah… It's been a rough day and a half," Lincoln claimed. Their grandparents did not even harp on the topic. They wanted to treat today as a happy moment in their life.

"Come on! We worked hard to prepare all this food, so let's enjoy it!" Leni exclaimed. The table lined with food had been tempting everyone long enough.

"We have a lot to tell you guys," Luna claimed. They did want to fill them in about the events of these last thirteen years.

"Well, let's get to it then," Ronnie Anne smirked.

"Of course!" Lincoln nodded.

* * *

"…so I've become an animal helper, and that's really hit or miss. It pays well though," Lincoln had finished explaining to their family all that they had been up to this last decade. He had already heard all of his family's tales during the roundup for each of their sisters.

"And Ligala's already been living up to our last name," Luna looked over to the other side of the table, where Ligala could be seen eating away at a hamburger. Luryn and Lola were trying to get her to eat cleanly, but it seemed the taste buds had overwhelmed her brain.

"Ow! Still not used to that…" Ligala tried to grab the ketchup with her injured hand, only to have to drop the condiment instantly when her arm started throbbing in pain over one mere twitch.

"Oh… was that your good arm?" Leni worriedly asked.

"I don't know, actually," Ligala shrugged. She never paid much mind to which hand was better. They both got used equally. It just seemed to depend on which one was more suited to the situation in terms of convenience.

"How do you not even know which is your better hand?" Luryn asked, staring at her in partial disbelief, "Do you know anything about yourself?"

"I know a little bit about myself, but I'm more interested in my friends," Ligala told her cousin. Luryn groaned, planting her face into her salad in frustration. Everyone beyond her parents were unaware of how dull Ligala was to rhetorical questions. Lori rubbed her daughters back in reassurance.

"She's grown well. You two have turned out to be great parents," Rita complimented her children. The sibling couple, however, was not too sure if they did a good job or not. Lincoln felt that he failed his part of parenthood for letting his daughter lose half of her hand, and Luna was not too sure about her status as mother due to how Ligala acted mentally stranger than others.

"Come on you two. She's healthy and with a bright smile on her face," Lynn Sr. reassured them, "That's all that matters to family, right?"

"Thanks, dad. Sorry for surprising you with this, but I felt like we owed you it," Lincoln apologized. He felt it was a poor idea to give giant surprises to the middle-aged.

"Oh no, we're more than happy just knowing you all are back… It's really nice to see my babies all grown up. Fate really is a mysterious worker," Rita rubbed his head. Lincoln nodded, not able to deny how fate tended to be funny.

"The girl our daughter tried to befriend for a long time turned out to be Lori and Bobby's daughter… fate took its toll, huh?" Luna chuckled, still finding it unbelievable, but she was more overjoyed at the realization that she could personally share her music with her family again.

"Fate is one of many things I was praying for from my dark overlords," Lucy was unsure if all those rituals paid off or not, but as long as her wish came true, she did not care if it was that or blind luck.

"Say, what's with that joystick around your neck? They stopped using stuff that sturdy for arcade machines a long time ago," Lana asked, interested. They stopped using the material about two years before Ligala was born. She knew this fact after learning from the game addicts that lived in the basement of the apartment complex that she took care of. She had helped them repair them a hundred times by now.

"It does suit you," Clyde complimented, "It sticks out like a sore thumb, kind've."

"Dad and Mom gave me it when I was five! It's supposed to be my key to me! I can always rely on it when I'm worried! It feels like they're there holding my hand whenever I grip it!" Ligala proudly answered, holding it gently. She did not care to remove it from her necklace. Everyone found that response sweet, a clear sign that her parents had given her an item to treasure throughout her life, even in the toughest of times.

"I wanted to be sure she had something to rely on," Lincoln nodded, glad that he had been able to pick right. During his days spent learning how to become a veterinarian, he had found a broken down arcade cabinet for a beloved childhood game of his. He took the joystick from it, hoping it could bring good luck to his daughter who now wore it. She practically fell in love with it like it was a heavenly toy when she first got it.

"So do you have something you want to do when you get older?" Luan asked, she was holding Leeonko and feeding him mashed potatoes, not minding sharing with him.

Ligala held her head, thinking on that a moment. _"…Nothing!"_

"Oh… you don't know?" Leni sadly replied, confused if she had a dream or desire for her future or not.

"Nope! I want to be nothing. I just want to do what I can to make friends," Ligala claimed. Lincoln and Luna felt their family's confuses gazes set on them.

"I don't think making friends is a job… Do you mean, like, meeting a lot of people?" Lori tried to understand, despite Luryn insisting not to. She already knew the answer and did not want it repeated to her ears.

"Nope. Dad told me the true keys to life are friends and family… so that's why I have to make friends with everybody in my school and everyone I meet in this world!" Ligala exclaimed, proudly oblivious to her bright expression and her eager eyes looking ready to explode in glee.

"That's… wow…" Lily was unsure what to say to her niece, "That's a lot of work… I can't imagine managing more than twenty friends…"

"She really is crazier than her dad," Ronnie Anne commented, Bobby laughing in agreement.

"Talk about a 'worldwide' dream," Luan laughed, giving a light clap for the goal.

"Well, she may be crazy, but at least she is a… moderately decent student," Clyde's compliment wavered partially, but as long as she did not cause trouble for his school, he would be fine with it.

"That sounds like a really sweet goal!" Leni smiled, applauding the motivation, "As long as it works for her, why judge her?"

"That's literally why you lost some of your fingers…" Lori groaned. Now she knew how her daughter found it insane.

"I suppose you need little reason to befriend someone…" Lisa adjusted her glasses, "However, I can safely assume your priorities are far out of order. You'll never know the person by heart until you do. I can barely tolerate half of my own co-workers…"

"It's hard to perform a ritual alone. The dark lord bonds bind those that are loyal," Lucy said, slightly creeping everyone out despite the efforts to ignore the comment.

"I think it's pretty cool," Lana supported it, with a grin on her face, "Getting to know so many people sounds like a lotta fun! Maybe I should try it sometime…?"

"There's a reason nobody gets along behind the stage during a beauty pageant," Lola rolled her eyes with her arms crossed. She swore that she felt Lily's unforgiving glare on her, that made Lola nervously sweat.

"I think I make friends with everybody I fight… It's kind of hard to tell past the bruises," Lynn admitted, beginning to wonder how her MMA relationships actually fared up.

"I'm not repeating myself," Luryn huffed. She had already expressed her hate for that mindset after her personal guilt.

"What can I say? That's our daughter," Luna grinned proudly.

"And she's why we're here now," Lincoln wrapped his hand around Luna's.

"Talk about a go-getter!" Lynn Sr. Was happy to just be able to see his granddaughter and children again. He was paranoid that he would have expired long before the time came.

"Living up to the Loud name," Rita nodded.

"Well before we dig into the real treat, how about we open the presents? Some of us got a few ready for you guys," Lynn offered. It sounded fine to the sibling couple. They almost knew what was on the center of the table under the boxes.

"Alright, but I hope you're not trying to spoil my daughter… Me and Luna have an announcement to make too, afterwards," Lincoln joked with that same smile. Luna shook her head at the bad joke, but couldn't resist a grin. She was, however, anxious for their announcement. She wondered how he was able to stay calm.

"These are gifts for your whole family," Lisa assured as a few of their family members went to round up the welcome back presents.

"Why am I both excited and scared?" Ligala asked her parents, for some reason feeling uncomfortable.

"Sorry," Lincoln spoke up, "It's normal for our family, honey, whether the person likes it or not."

"Just wait 'til your birthday," Luna smirked, "You'll be really scared then!"

Ligala gulped, worried. Normally she would enjoy new feelings, but this was a rare exception. She knew nothing of her family beyond the basic things after all.

* * *

"So… can I ask you something, Ronnie Anne?" Lincoln asked as they waited for the rest of their family to bring out the welcome back presents.

"What's on your mind, Lame-o?" Ronnie Anne nodded, leaned back in her seat. She rested her hot dog down, a bit annoyed to be interrupted before she could eat.

"How come you never told us about Luryn? Y'know you and Clyde are the only two we really kept in touch with, but this time you never mentioned anything."

"Isn't it obvious, Lincoln? You and Luna were trying to forget about your family, and I knew bringing them up would do nothing but upset you," Ronnie Anne explained, apologetic but standing by her choice, "I didn't want to distract two people who had to save animals and give the world their music."

"Thanks for caring for my parents, Auntie Anne… they try too hard to keep things from me sometimes," Ligala bowed to Ronnie Anne, gaining more weird looks that made the Santiago feel embarrassed.

"How much anime do you let this kid watch? Seriously, I feel weird!" Ronnie Anne asked her ex-boyfriend and his sibling lover.

"She doesn't really care for television. I tried to let her see the old things I used to like, and she just never cared for manga or anime," Lincoln responded. He used to love those things when he was a kid alongside comic books, but times changed and he rarely cared to give them a gloss over anymore.

"But she loves music. Though she's more of a listener than a player," Luna added, remembering all the times she played music to help put their only daughter to sleep when she was younger. It always made her daughter's heart feel warm and fuzzy.

"That's not true! I'm great with the symbols!" Ligala responded to her mother.

"Gets a good bit of practice by scaring other students awake. That's for sure," Clyde shook his head, but was unable to argue that she had a lot of practice with the instrument.

"Alright! That's all of them!" Leni announced, resting the last of the three presents down. They had to be careful with the biggest present of all.

"You sure you want us to open these before desert?" Luna asked, seeing how everyone looked more eager for dessert more, rude as it may be.

"Go ahead. It's not like it's Christmas size," Rita insisted. The Loud parents knew how full the living room got with presents during Christmas. Just another side effect of having such a big family.

"Alright, well let's start with this one first. It's from Leni, Lola and Lily," Lynn picked up the smallest present, tossing it to her brother. He caught it with ease.

"That gift is more for Ligala," Lola apologized. The three had worked hard to get it ready in such a short time. The veterinarian handed the gift to his daughter to let her open it.

"Do you need help opening it?" Luryn offered, but her cousin shook her head.

"I still have one good hand and buckteeth. I can open it just fine," Ligala retorted not enjoying being treated as handicapped just for having one arm injured. She began to rip the package apart.

"Hm? It's a coat?" the teenage girl pulled a coat from the box. It had a vibrant, light golden color to it with stars going over the shoulder and all around the coat.

"Sorry, sorry! I know it seems mean!" Leni whimpered, feeling profusely bad for giving her an item meant for her arms, only after she burned one of them.

"Talk about reflective… If someone shines a flashlight on me, the whole city might get blinded," Ligala joked. She was unable to slip her arms through the sleeves. She opted instead to simply drape the coat over herself and let it hang on by her shoulders.

"Thanks a lot! I like it a ton,"

"No problem!" Lily hummed. She, Leni and Lola were more than happy to have their gift liked for at least its great quality.

"This here's from me, Luan and Lana. You can open it Lincoln," Lucy handed over the next, slightly bigger gift. Lincoln immediately tore the wrapping paper off of it and opened it.

"Huh?" Luna just saw three empty picture frames of various sizes inside.

"Is this a joke?" Lincoln asked, confused.

"No, we worked hard to make them for you!" Lana responded, "Sorry if they're bad. One hands still really sore."

"It was Luan's idea. We went with it because it sounded good," Lucy claimed. The sibling couple looked to their sisterly pun machine.

"I figured you wanted picture frames big enough for our family photos to go in! Because I know by the end of this reunion, we're going to have tons of them to pick from!" Luan exclaimed happily, while bouncing her adoptive son on her knee, hearing him giggle in joy.

"Oh, I get it now! Thanks a lot," Ligala thanked her aunts. Lori felt bad that the only gift she could really give was the help of rounding up their family members, despite being the main reason this reunion was happening technically. Some of the Loud sisters had no present to offer, but their family did not mind.

"Alright! Time for the big one! You three can open this one together!" Lynn eagerly announced. Her niece and siblings were confused by how energetic she was over this big present.

"Okay, Lynn, relax. You look like you're about to burst a vein," Lisa insisted. The present's tag read that it was from the two of them.

"Uhh…?" the rock star Loud, upon ripping the first layer of paper and pulling the box off, found another wrapped box in it.

"Seriously? You guys did this and not Luan?" Lincoln groaned, not amused. His sisters didn't respond. The three of them opened that box, and then the next one. It continued on until the big present became only a quarter of its size.

"I'm not cleaning all that wrapping paper up," Rita stated. Lynn Sr half-expected this kind of present, but was still annoyed by the mess it made.

"Come on, you're so close!" Lynn encouraged her tired siblings.

"I understand the joke, but seriously? Twenty boxes all wrapped?!" Luna was in awe at how dedicated they had been to this.

"Well, the harder one has to work to get to their reward, the better it tends to be," Lisa said. The many holes each box had thankfully made it easy to tear into the wrapping paper. Ligala crouched down, tearing open the last of the boxes.

"Oh, my, god!" Ligala squealed. She saw a tiny cage containing a beagle dog that looked barely two weeks old. The puppy barked, pleasured to be outside again.

"Wicked! A dog!" Luna was as happy as her daughter with this present.

"Wow… you went through all the trouble to get us this little fella?" Lincoln asked. His sisters looked joyous to see them just as so.

"Jaikun was working in the mall you went to when getting Lola and Lily," Lynn explained, "we made a special trip while you were asleep and snuck him into the trunk of your car. In a sense, it's his gift as well."

"That more than explains all the holes in the boxes," Lincoln nodded. He watched as Ligala held the beagle in her one arm, laughing as the eager puppy began licking her face.

"Lucky you. Mom doesn't think we'd be able to take care of a pet…" Luryn murmured.

"Does he have a name?" Lori asked, not hesitating to begin taking about a dozen pictures with her cellphone.

"They said his name was Rebound because he kept bouncing off the other dogs like they were trampolines," Lisa claimed. The reasoning made little sense to her. But once an animal was named, it tended to be hard to change that name since they adapted to it as soon as they received it.

"Rebound! I love him so much! Thank you, aunt Lynn and aunt Lisa!" Ligala laughed, falling onto her back when the puppy leapt out of her arms to tackle her. The MMA pro and scientist could safely assume if their niece could, she would bow to them in thanks as well.

"Don't mention it! Maybe he can help you make friends?" Lynn joked.

"Well," Lisa adjusted her glasses, "cute things tend to make for an excellent conversation starter."

"Calm down little guy," Lily told the dog, coming over and helping her niece up, taking Rebound off her.

"And I thought Ligala was an endless supply of energy," Lincoln sighed, guessing he would look weird as a veterinarian who didn't have a pet.

"But he'll be a great addition to the family," Luna patted her lover's back. Ronnie Anne and Clyde stood up.

"How about we enjoy the desert now?" Ronnie Anne offered as the two friends grabbed the boxes, taking them off at the same time. From which it prominently revealed a rather large cake with a big sign made out of cookie dough on top of it, reading **'Welcome Back!'** Everyone looked at it in awe.

"I think my diet just got sabotaged… and I'm okay with that!"

"After the long day today cake sounds pretty good."

"The last time I had cake was at Leeonko's birthday party."

"Good thing I'm my own personal trainer. I can judge myself for eating this later!"

"Well, I suppose I need something sweet to balance out my sugar levels."

"I haven't had cake in nearly two years! Start cutting it already!"

"I'll cut it!"

"No, I will!"

"No, me!"

 _"Me!"_

 **"Me!"**

 _"Me!"_

 **"Me!"**

"Wow, you two have quite the 'sweet' tooth."

"…I missed you too, Luan."

"Hey, uh…! Before you all make a bigger mess than those boxes did, we have an announcement, remember?" Lincoln stopped the almost ensuing chaos. Everyone froze on the spot.

Rita sighed in relief. "Thank you for stopping the mess, even if it's just for a minute."

"What is it you two have to announce?" Lynn Sr asked. The rock star Loud held his hand, trying to give one another comfort.

"So… We've decided something important. It took me a long time, but I was finally able to convince Lincoln to agree," Luna began, wanting her significant other to continue. She wanted to put his calm demeanor to the test.

"We're going to have another baby," Lincoln finished for her. Everyone stared at them in silence. Ronnie and Clyde could practically sense the surprise overwhelming them all.

"I swear, you're just trying to make sure our kids are similar in age," Lori lightly laughed.

"Well, that's great, dude!" Bobby clapped his hands.

"Yay! Congratulations!" Leni squealed, "Now I get to make more baby clothes again! I loved doing it for Luryn and Ligala! Now I have an excuse to do it more, thanks to Leeonko and these new babies on the way!"

"I knew you couldn't keep it in your pants that long," Ronnie Anne grinned.

"Congrats! Try not to let this one get as crazy as your daughter," Clyde smirked, Ligala was not sure if her principal was insulting her or not.

"Oh, _'baby'_ , looks like you'll have a lot more friends soon, Leeonko," Luan hummed. She could hear her son laugh when his foot got tickled as if he was giving his own congratulations to them.

"Damn it, everyone's trying to set off my maternal itch…" Lynn rubbed her neck nervously. She had wanted a child of her own as well these last few years, but had no plans to until she found the right man for herself.

"I'll do a lot more good luck rituals to make sure this goes smoothly," Lucy promised. As odd as it sounded, at least these cult rituals were of good intentions. She had plenty of dark children by the younger members of the cult.

"Man, I can be a millionaire with this much babysitting," Lana grinned. Living in a big apartment complex, a lot of babies were around and a lot of people needed help. It seemed a side source of income to her.

"Maybe if it's a girl, I'll give them my old tiara like a hand-me-down?" Lola looked down to the tiara dangling around her wrist for a good luck charm. She felt like it failed her a lot lately.

"I'll gladly offer medical aid to you if you so desire?" Lisa offered, just like for Luna's last pregnancy. Lincoln was comforted to hear it again, and his sisterly lover even felt more relieved with that news.

"I had enough trouble trying to be the best aunt for Ligala… I hope it's a lot easier this time," Lily sighed, not wanting to remember those stressful days from her youth.

"I'll try and make sure the kids safe, but Ligala's kind of my priority. I do owe her a lot," Luryn stated. Ligala looked to her confusedly, holding the eager beagle puppy.

"Well congratulations, you two! I kind of expected you to have another child before we saw you again," Rita explained.

"Just hope you don't have your old man's luck," Lynn Sr told their son. The Loud parents treated this like their second chance to be supportive of their children's incestuous actions. They did not agree with it, but there was no reversing it. They wanted to focus on returning to a normal, happy family, even if they were split apart a tad.

"Thanks everyone!" Luna smiled, "It's great to know we're not alone for this… I've been really sick of stressing Lincoln out."

"Don't worry about it Luna. It's never stress if it's to help you. But we owe you all a lot, especially for the warm welcome back," Lincoln added. He clapped his hands together.

"Now let's dig into that cake!"

"Yeah!"

"Finally!"

"I'm starved!"

"About time!"

"Guess you hit everyone in the _'sweet'_ spot today."

"Just cut the cake already."

Ligala was happy to see her family all in glee. But before she could sit down to join them, Rebound jumped out of her arms and onto the table, running straight for the cake and diving right into it.

"Wha-!?"

"The cake! Nooooo!"

"Bad dog!"

"I think it's in my eye!"

"I think it's in my hair…"

"Not my pageant dress!"

"Well I'll be _'doggone'!_ "

 **"PUNS ARE NOT HELPING!"**

Ligala's eyeballs almost popped out as the family tried to stop the dog from its food rampage. Lincoln and Luna looked embarrassed. Their daughter looked at her family and the ensuing chaos, a bright grin showing on her face.

"I'm going to be great friends with them all! …even if I have my work cut out for me with a baby sibling on the way!"

"Do you always talk to yourself?" Luryn asked.

"Yeah! I got it from dad," her cousin nodded, holding her joystick, her smile only brightening. She then grabbed her cousin's arm. "Come on! Let's go join in the mess!"

"Wa-wait, what?! No, please!" Luryn panicked, "This is my favorite, uhh… my favorite pants! Yeah! Please stop! No! _**Noooooooo!**_ "

There was a crash, and Ligala's maniacal laughter. And did that Loud have a lot of fun, too.

 **"I love my family!"**


End file.
